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THE    DEVELOPMENT  OF   MODERN 

TURKEY  AS  MEASURED 

BY  ITS  PRESS 


AHMED  EMIN,  M.  A. 


SUBMITTED  IN  PAR]  lAL  FULFILMENT  OF  THE  REQUIREMENTS 

FOR  THE  DEGREE  OF  DOCTOR  OF  PHILOSOPHY 

IN  THE 

Faculty  of  Political  Science 
Columbia  University 


NEW  YORK 
I914 


THE    DEVELOPMENT  OF   MODERN 

TURKEY  AS  MEASURED 

BY  ITS  PRESS 


AHMED  EMIN,  M.  A. 


SUBMITTED  IN  PARTIAL  FULFILMENT  OF  THE  REQUIREMENl'S 

FOR  THE  DEGREE  OF  DOCTOR  OF  PHILOSOPHY 

IN  THE 

Faculty  of  Political  Science 
Columbia  University 


NEW  YORK 
1914 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2007  with  funding  from 

IVIicrosoft  Corporation 


http://www.archive.org/details/developmentofmodOOyalmrich 


PREFACE 

Much  has  been  written  in  western  languages  on  decaying 
Turkey,  on  Turkey  as  a  spoil  to  be  divided  among  foreign 
powers,  but  very  little  on  Turkey  developing  and  striving 
to  develop. 

An  attempt  only  is  made  in  the  following  pages  to  give 
a  view  of  Turkey  in  her  struggle  for  survival  and  for 
betterment.  The  press  has  been  selected  as  an  index  and 
measure,  because  it  has  always  been  the  leading  factor  in 
the  Modem  Turkish  movement,  because  also  the  writer  is 
personally  acquainted  with  that  field. 

Ahmed  Emin. 

New  York,  February,  1914. 

5]  5 


305625 


CONTENTS 


rAGK 

Preface 5 

CHAPTER  I 

Introduction 

The  foundations  of  the  Turkish  Imperial  system 11 

Causes  of  decay 12 

Efforts  for  regeneration 14 

The  present  era 15 

A  brief  review  of  the  development  of  the  press 16 

CHAPTER   II 
The  Prejournalistic  Period 

Means  of  intercourse  and  communication 17' 

Preachers  and  books 19 

Introduction  of  the  printing  press   . 20 

The  first  books 24 

Establishment  of  a  press  bureau 26 

CHAPTER  III 
The  Era  of  Genesis 

A  benevolent  despot 27 

The  first  paper 28 

A  diplomatic  incident  with  Russia 28 

The  first  editorial 29 

The  Sultan's  interest 30 

The  business  life  of  the  first  paper 30 

The  attitude  of  Europe 31 

The  Young  Turks  after  the  Crimean  War 33 

The  first  self-supporting  paper  (i860) 34 

Conflicts  with  authorities 36 

Self-banishment  to  England  and  agitation  (1867) 37 

Reform  activity 38 

Reaction  after  1871 39 

The  golden  era  of  the  press 40 

7]  7 


8                                              CONTENTS  [8 

PACK 

The  provincial  press 42 

Popularizing  activities 43 

Humorous  publications 45 

Old  Turks  and  Young  Turks 45 

Circulation  and  price 47 

The  policies  and  views  of  the  papers 48 

Political  changes 49 

CHAPTER   IV 
The  Hamidian  Period 

Abdul  Hamid  and  the  press 52 

The  beginning  of  the  policy  of  elimination 55 

The  effect  of  the  Russian  War 56 

An  example  of  press  phraseology  in  1877 57 

Downfall  and  self-criticism 58 

Midhat  Pasha  eliminated 59 

A  Young  Turkish  Plot 60 

The  possibilities  of  the  situation 60 

The  policy  and  methods  of  the  Sultan 61 

Dailies  like  literary  magazines 63 

The  development  of  the  censorship 64 

Renewed  Young  Turkish  activity 65 

Agitation  from  abroad 66 

The  revolutionary  press  in  foreign  countries .    .  69 

Types  of  Young  Turks 70 

Attempt  to  check  progress  by  means  of  schools 72 

The  changing  spirit 73 

The  Hamidian  "  system " 74 

The  press  before  the  Greek  War  (1897) 75 

The  "  New  Literature  "  movement 76 

An  unwelcome  colleague 76 

Inferences  from  the  number  of  press  stamps  consumed 79 

The  contents  of  the  papers 80 

The  Hamidian  journalist 82 

Strong  Young  Turkish  agitation 83 

The  Constitutional  change 84 

CHAPTER  V 

The  Present  Era 

Part  I    Developments  since  igo8  and  their  interpretation 

The  energetic  action  of  the  press 86 

Abundance  in  publicity 88 

New  Societies  and  their  organs 89 


9]                                            CONTENTS  9 

FAGK 

An  interpretation  of  the  new  tendencies 90 

Foreign  difficulties  and  popular  actions 93 

Reasons  for  discontent 93 

Reactionary  agitation  for 'more  "freedom  of  press" 94 

Political  differentiation —  95 

The  disturbance  of  April,  1909 96 

The  mob  and  the  press. 97 

Freedom  and  Court  Martial  regime 99 

The  rigid  control  not  lasting 100 

Struggle  for  control  and  prestige loo 

A  militarist  press  as  a  symptom  of  social  disease 102 

Party- minded  ness 103 

Eftorts  for  compromise 105 

Signs  of  new  conditions 108 

The  imperial  burden  and  balance  of  energy ill 

An  interpretation  of  the  situation 112 

Ibr^  II    Number^   Contents^  Character  of  Turkish    Papers  in   the 
Present  Era.     Their  Relations  with  the  Readers  in  the  Light 
of  a  Questionnaire 
A  comparative  list  of  periodicals  published  at  Constantinople  in  191 1  and 

1913 "3 

The  publications  in  the  provinces 117 

A  statistical  study  of  the  contents 120 

Coefficients  of  solidarity 121 

Character  and  make-up 122 

Opinions  and  views  regarding  the  future 125 

Intercourse  with  readers 126 

Increasing  commercial  methods 1 27 

Advertisements 129 

Circulation 131 

Analysis  of  a  questionnaire 133 

Conclusion 139 

Bibliography 141 


CHAPTER  I 
Introduction 

Few  countries  can  compete  in  the  making  of  history  with 
the  wide  territories,  now  under  the  rule  of  the  government 
of  Constantinople.  Owing  to  their  extended  coast  line, 
their  central  position  and  their  resources,  they  always  were 
an  active  field  for  the  movements  of  populations,  for  the 
conflicts  of  races  and  cultures,  for  the  accumulation  and 
combination  of  ideas.  The  products  of  this  perpetual  his- 
torical process  could  not  be  subjected  to  a  general  amalga- 
mation. Under  the  protection  of  different  environmental 
influences  in  the  various  parts  of  these  territories  different 
physical  types,  different  kinds  and  epochs  of  culture,  differ- 
ent languages  could  survive  side  by  side. 

On  these,  the  Turks  had  a  foundation  of  doubtful  socio- 
logical value  on  which  to  build  up  an  empire.  Indeed, 
when  one  closely  realizes  the  heterogeneity  of  the  conditions 
they  found  in  Asia  Minor  and  Southeastern  Europe,  one 
cannot  help  asking:  How  was  the  whole  thing  possible? 
How  could  a  great  empire  be  built  up  on  such  a  basis 
and  maintained  for  more  than  six  centuries  ?  One  becomes 
more  and  more  puzzled  by  remembering  that  the  founders 
of  the  Ottoman  Empire  were  but  a  fraction  of  a  single 
wandering  Turkish  tribe,  and  had  to  face,  for  many  gener- 
ations, a  keen  antagonism  from  all  stocks  kindred  to  them, 
religiously  or  racially,  instead  of  support  and  help. 

A  task  of  such  tremendous  delicacy  could  not  be  solved 
by  sword  merely.  A  very  efficient  organization  was  neces- 
sary. This  the  founders  of  the  empire  succeeded  in  creat- 
ing. The  iron  sense  of  discipline  they  brought  from  Cen- 
ii]  II 


12  THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  MODERN  TURKEY         [12 

tral  Asia  was  a  good  equipment  for  their  work.  They 
further  found  in  Mohammedanism  a  machine  for  assimila- 
tion and  a  source  of  solidarity.  A  third  favorable  factor 
was  the  vast  opportunity  for  the  selection  of  ideas  and 
people.  The  air  of  the  frontier  region,  where  the  foun- 
dation of  the  new  empire  was  laid,  was  filled  with  tried  ideas 
of  government  handed  down  for  centuries,  from  people  to 
people,  from  generation  to  generation.  Not  only  was  a 
successful  selection  made  from  this  large  store  of  ideas, 
but  also  the  best  people  from  the  neighboring  or  subjected 
stocks  were  selected  and  trained  through  ingenious  methods, 
to  carry  them  out.^ 

The  system  based  upon  these  foundations  enabled  the 
early  Turks  to  form  a  new  and  compact  nation  out  of 
heterogeneous  elements  within  a  few  generations  and  to  ex- 
tend their  frontiers  with  extraordinary  rapidity.  They 
laid  such  a  strong  foundation  for  the  structure  that  it  could 
withstand  the  greatest  shocks  and  crises  for  centuries,  and 
disprove  over  and  over  again  the  prophecies  as  to  its  un- 
delayable end. 

The  system  itself  was  too  artificial  to  maintain  its  effi- 
ciency forever.  Rapid  growth,  easy  success,  accumulation 
of  wealth  by  conquest  with  corresponding  love  of  luxury 
had  in  themselves  elements  of  degeneracy.  Besides,  the 
best  point  in  the  system  contained  a  germ  of  destruction. 
In  order  to  prevent  the  conquering  race  from  living  as 
parasites  on  the  state  body,  and  from  forming  a  privileged 
hereditary  class,  at  the  expense  of  the  power  of  the  Crown, 
the  offices  in  the  army  and  the  executive  were  regularly 
filled  with  specially  trained  Christian  converts.  The  chil- 
dren of  these  converts  were  considered  members  of  the  rul- 

1  A  clear  description  of  the  system  may  be  found  in  Professor  L.  H. 
Lybyer's  The  Government  of  the  Ottoman  Empire  in  the  Time  of 
Suleiman  the  MagniUcent,  Harvard  University  Press,  1913. 


13]  INTRODUCTION  1 3 

ing  Turkish  race  and  could  not  hold  office.  The  Turks,  i  e. 
Turkish-speaking  Mohammedans,  were  thus  forced  to  de- 
vote their  attention  to  agriculture,  industry,  commerce,  or 
to  careers  of  learning.  All  this  was  admirably  planned, 
but  it  produced  a  large  debarred  and  discontented  class, 
ready  to  do  away,  at  the  first  opportunity,  with  the  barriers 
to  their  advancement. 

And  so  it  happened.  Selim  II  and  Mourad  III  who  suc- 
ceeded Suleiman  the  Magnificent  (i 520-1 566),  the  great 
conquering  and  organizing  Sultan,  on  the  Ottoman  throne, 
were  men  of  weak  disposition.  They  lacked  the  qualities  of 
leadership  necessary  to  run  the  complex  governmental  ma- 
chinery. The  joints  began  to  be  loosened.  The  members 
of  the  conquering  race  gradually  invaded  the  government 
offices  and  the  army,  without  going  through  the  severe 
special  training.  Evils  like  favoritism,  palace  intrigues, 
weakening  of  the  central  authority,  artificially  kept  away 
until  then,  made  their  appearance.  The  skillful  scheme  of 
selection  which  meant  for  the  ruling  race  an  addition  of 
good  blood  at  the  expense  of  subjected  races  ceased  and 
the  Mohammendan,  and  especially  the  Turkish  part  of  the 
population  had  alone  to  bear  the  cost  in  life  of  the  almost 
constant  wars. 

Among  other  beneficial  features  of  the  old  system,  the 
machinery  for  change  and  readjustment  was  also  destroyed. 
In  the  face  of  external  dangers  which  put  an  end  to  ag- 
gressive action  and  invasion,  and  made  the  country  as- 
sume a  defensive  position,  the  religious  class  acquired  more 
and  more  prestige,  with  the  result  that  change  and  better- 
ment came  into  disrepute,  and  everything  became  crystal- 
lized and  stationary. 

The  shifting  of  the  world's  trade  and  communication 
from  the  Mediteranean  to  Western  Europe  through  Da 
Gama's  voyage  around  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  gave  an 
additional  blow  to  the  Ottoman  Empire. 


14     THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  MODERN  TURKEY  [14 

Still,  there  were  attempts  made  for  betterment,  as  often 
as  matters  became  too  critical.  The  foundation  originally 
laid  was  so  solid  that  a  strong  man  was  always  able  to  put 
the  machinery  in  order  and  run  it  smoothly  for  a  while.  As 
there  were  no  hereditary  rights,  and  as  even  in  the  times  of 
greatest  degeneracy  and  decay,  a  man  of  humble  origin 
but  strong  will,  could  work  his  way  up  to  the  top,  a  rela- 
tively great  productivity  in  strong  leaders  was  noticeable 
in  all  periods  of  urgent  need.  With  them  the  empire  rose 
and  fell.  In  view  of  the  internal  situation  and  of  constant 
external  dangers,  however,  their  efforts  could  not  exceed 
the  limits  of  a  struggle  for  mere  survival. 

It  can  hardly  be  surmised  what  course  Ottoman  history 
would  have  taken  amidst  these  ups  and  downs,  had  the 
Western  world  not  ushered  in  an  era  entirely  new  in  human 
evolution. 

The  changes  in  the  West,  combined  with  repeated  mis- 
fortune in  war  began  to  stimulate  in  Turkey,  conscious 
efforts  to  save  the  country  from  decay  by  adopting  some  of 
the  Western  ways.  The  first  great  success  along  this  line 
was  achieved,  when,  with  government  help,  a  printing  press 
was  established  in  Constantinople  in  1140  A.  H.  (1728). 

The  conflict  between  the  old  and  the  new  has  continued 
ever  since.  In  the  latter  half  of  the  eighteenth  and  the  first 
half  of  the  nineteenth  centuries  the  reform  movement  was 
carried  out  by  enlightened  Sultans,  in  particular  Mahmoud 
II,  and  their  ministers.  After  the  annihilation  in  1825  of 
the  janissaries,  a  military  corps  which  had  effectually  op- 
posed any  kind  of  change  and  any  betterment  for  gener- 
ations, the  course  of  progress  became  more  and  more  rapid. 
The  face  of  Turkey  changed  so  radically  that  Lord  Palmers- 
ton  could  say  in  1856:  "  In  the  last  thirty  years  Turkey  has 
made  greater  progress  than  any  nation  of  Europe  ". 

The  reforms  however,  hardly  constituted  a  real  adjust- 


I^]  INTRODUCTION  15 

ment  to  new  conditions.  They  were  mostly  dictated  by  the 
pressure  of  the  moment  and  by  the  instinct  of  self -preserva- 
tion. The  state  of  affairs  was  far  from  pleasing  to  the  new 
generation  of  idealists  and  patriots.  They  saw  in  demo- 
cracy, a  panacea  for  regenerating  the  country,  and  engaged 
in  a  vigorous  struggle  for  obtaining  a  constitution. 

In  1876,  when  the  reformers  seemed  to  have  finally 
reached  their  goal,  Sultan  Abdul  Hamid  appeared  on  the 
scene.  His  well  organized  autocratic  system  did  away  with 
many  possibilities  of  development  and  improvement,  but 
created,  in  ways  of  opposition,  new  nationalistic  tendencies 
and  collective  efforts  for  self-realization.  In  spite  of  the 
large  number  of  martyrs,  the  revolutionary  movement  was 
kept  alive  in  foreign  countries  and  triumphed  in  1908. 

When  the  veil,  imposed  by  a  despotic  government  was  re- 
moved, a  sad  picture  revealed  itself.  It  was  a  picture  of 
chaos,  of  degeneracy,  of  disintegration.  With  a  part  of 
the  population  directly  hostile  to  the  very  existence  of  the 
empire,  another  large  part  indifferent,  and  those  interested 
in  the  destinies  of  the  country  lacking  in  deliberative  like- 
mindedness  and  solidarity,  a  liberal  constitution  could  hardly 
play  the  part  of  a  panacea  and  transform  this  picture  im- 
mediately into  one  of  harmony  and  progress,  as  the  Turkish 
idealist  hoped.  An  era  of  dangerous  experimenting,  but  of 
brave  desire  for  improvement,  began,  interrupted  by  the 
array  of  external  difficulties  expressly  created  by  Russia 
and  some  other  powers,  wishing  for  their  own  interests 
only  a  weak  and  decaying  Turkey. 

As  long  as  the  external  dangers  kept  the  general  atten- 
tion and  the  largest  part  of  the  empire's  energy  had  to  be 
devoted  to  the  maintenance  of  order  in  and  the  defense  of 
European  Turkey,  the  rapid  changes  taking  place  in  every 
branch  of  Turkish  life  could  not  go  beneath  the  form  and 
surface,  and  meant  in  the  long  run  mere  destruction  and 
annihilation  instead  of  improvement. 


l6  THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  MODERN  TURKEY         [i6 

The  recent  misfortune  in  the  Balkan  War  and  the  ac- 
companying amputation  of  the  sick  and  energy-absorbing 
parts  of  territory  have  changed  the  whole  outlook.  Freed 
from  the  most  dangerous  part  of  her  imperial  burden, 
Turkey  may  now  freely  look  forward  to  an  era  of  demo- 
cratic development. 

The  Turkish  press  which  will  be  studied  in  the  following 
pages  is  the  factor  which,  in  the  last  instance,  did  most  to 
prepare  the  ground  for  the  present  situation  in  Turkey. 

The  press  began,  as  has  everything  modern  in  Turkey, 
as  a  government  institution,  and  maintained  this  character 
until  i860.  When  an  independent  class  of  reformers  and 
innovators  arose,  it  passed  under  their  control  and  had  its 
golden  period  at  their  hands,  between  i860  and  1876.  After 
his  accession  to  the  throne.  Sultan  Abdul  Hamid  (1876) 
did  everything  to  reduce  it  to  a  mere  tool  of  his  will  and  to 
a  prop  of  his  system.  As  a  result,  the  real  press  activity 
and  free  intellectual  life  of  Turkey  transferred  itself  to 
France,  Egypt,  and  other  places,  and  from  there,  furnished 
the  country,  artificially  isolated,  with  an  underground  life- 
stream.  Since  the  proclamation  of  the  constitution,  the  press 
has  enjoyed  a  status,  incomparably  better  than  the  previous 
state  of  affairs.  It  has  at  least  been  able  to  play,  on  the 
general  social  field,  a  free  part  in  leadership,  and  to  act  as 
an  unrestricted  intermediary  of  ideas  between  Turkey  and 
the  Western  World.  There  has  been  a  tendency,  however, 
altering  in  degree  with  the  constant  political  changes,  to- 
wards repressing  adverse  political  criticism.  The  last  phase 
of  development,  as  indicated  by  the  creation  of  eleven 
weeklies  for  schools  and  children  and  five  weeklies  on  farm- 
ing, is  a  sound  specialization  in  periodicals.  The  dailies 
which  are  decreasing  in  number,  but  increasing  in  circula- 
tion, have  also  ceased  to  be  elements  of  contest  and  agita- 
tion, standing  and  working  for  stability. 


CHAPTER  II 
The  Pre-Journalistic  Period 

The  dawn  of  the  newspaper  era  in  Turkey  is  a  com- 
paratively recent  event.  It  dates  back  only  to  the  second 
quarter  of  the  nineteenth  century.  Previous  to  that  time, 
there  were  ways  and  means  to  discharge  some  of  the  func- 
tions of  the  press,  which  originated  mainly  in  certain  pecu- 
liarities of  Turkish  social  life. 

The  social  life  of  Turkey  provided  for  an  abundant 
amount  of  intercourse:  the  mosque,  with  its  five  daily  and 
extra-Friday  meetings,  the  convent  of  the  dervishes,  the 
coffee-house,  the  market-place,  the  caravanseray,  all  served 
to  bring  and  to  keep  people  constantly  in  communication. 
In  addition,  the  Turkish  traditions  of  limitless  hospitality 
afforded  opportunity  to  every  class  of  people  to  intermingle 
and  associate  with  each  other  very  closely  and  intimately. 
As  an  outcome,  what  one  knew  or  thought  could  easily  be- 
come common  knowledge.  This  freedom  of  intercourse 
and  communication  may  explain  in  a  measure,  why  so  many 
fierce  mob  outbreaks  played  so  large  a  part  in  Turkish  his- 
tory, although  the  individuals  themselves  were  of  a  rather 
peaceful  and  quiet  disposition. 

On  occasions,  when  some  party  deliberately  desired  to 
diffuse  certain  news,  or  the  government  wanted  to  make 
certain  announcements,  the  usual  medium  was  the  public 
crier.  In  the  interior  of  Asia  Minor  and  even  in  some  of 
the  larger  coast  towns,  this  custom  still  survives,  although 
now,  every  province  has  its  official  weekly,  and  many  of  the 
17]  17 


l8  THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  MODERN  TURKEY         [ig 

provinces  have  non-official  weeklies  and  dailies.  Formerly, 
imperial  and  local  laws  and  regulations  were  announced 
through  public  criers  on  the  market  place  and  in  the  adjoin- 
ing streets.  The  same  medium  was  used  to  publish  great 
military  news,  or  the  appointment  and  date  of  arrival  of  a 
new  provincial  governor,  or  the  fixed  date  of  religious  festi- 
vals, as  well  as  the  announcement  of  the  death  of  a  promi- 
nent man,  and  the  arrival  or  departure  of  caravans  or  ships. 

The  public  crier  was  especially  important  as  an  advertis- 
ing agency.  He  had  to  make  announcements  regarding  the 
farming  of  government  revenues,  lost  articles,  missing  per- 
sons, escaped  convicts,  articles  to  be  sold  and  meetings  to 
be  held.  In  Constantinople,  the  only  surviving  trace  of  this 
system  at  the  present  time,  is  the  announcement  on  the 
streets  of  the  breaking  out  of  a  fire. 

In  matters  which  were  to  be  announced  by  the  authorities 
to  the  non-Mohammedan  parts  of  the  population  alone, 
there  was  no  need  for  the  public  crier.  In  the  case  of  these, 
the  government  maintained  the  principle  of  a  collective 
community  responsibility,  and  restricted  itself  to  making 
announcements  to  the  heads  of  the  respective  communities. 
The  official  historiographer  Wassif,  who  had  to  deal  with 
the  period  between  1753  and  1774,  gives  the  following 
example  of  this :  ^ 

As  the  Greek,  Armenian  and  Jewish  people  living  in  Constan- 
tinople had  gone  beyond  the  lawful  limits  in  their  dressing 
the  Greek  and  Armenian  patriarchs  and  the  community-head 
of  the  Jewish  people  were  summoned  to  the  seat  of  the  tchch 
voush-bashi  agha  (the  chief  of  police).  The  sublime  order, 
issued  to  the  effect  that  they  should  arrange  their  dress  accord- 
ing to  the  old  style,  was  communicated  to  all  of  them.  They 
were  threatened  and  warned,  one  by  one,  through  the  state- 

1  Tarikhi-Vassif  (Boulak  Edition,  Cairo,  1830),  vol.  i,  p.  67. 


ig]  THE  PRE-JOURNALISTIC  PERIOD  19 

ment  that  going  beyond  the  limits  would  result  in  most  vigor- 
ous punishment. 

The  spreading  of  opinions  and  the  moulding  of  news 
were  principally  the  business  of  religious  preachers.  Es- 
pecially in  the  fasting  month  of  Ramazan  and  the  two 
months  preceding,  it  was  customary  for  theological  stu- 
dents and  many  other  members  of  the  religious  profession 
to  wander  from  place  to  place  preaching  on  current  topics. 
They  did  not,  however,  constitute  a  well  trained  and  well 
organized  force,  which  might  be  purposefully  managed  and 
directed.  It  is  interesting  to  note  here  that  the  official 
historiographer  Na'ima,  who  had  to  deal  with  the  period 
between  1592  and  1659,  advocates,  among  other  measures 
which  he  suggests  for  a  general  improvement  of  the  condi- 
tions of  the  empire,  making  good  use  of  the  preachers. 
He  says :  ^ 

.  .  .  Even  the  most  majestic  buildings  are  bound  to  decay. 
Therefore,  attention  must  be  given  to  raise  men  before  all. 
People  of  initiative  and  activity  must  be  encouraged.  The 
hearth  of  public  spirit  of  the  people  must  be  kept  afire.  It  is 
necessary  for  this  purpose  to  send  able  preachers  among  the 
people.  They  ought  to  urge  them  in  times  of  peace,  to  work 
and  to  be  tranquil  and  orderly.  In  times  of  war,  they  ought 
to  call  meetings  and  incite  the  people  by  relating  in  a  forceful 
speech  the  deeds  of  their  forefathers  and  other  appropriate 
stories.  ... 

Na'ima  does  not  forget  the  importance  of  the  written 
word.  He  urges  the  wise  and  learned  to  write  pamphlets 
with  a  view  to  enlightening  the  people,  and  then  he  advises 
the  government  never  to  overlook  an  effort  of  this  sort  but 
to  reward  it  as  highly  as  it  deserves. 

1  Tarik hi- Na'ima  (Constantinople,  1734),  vol.  i,  p.  31. 


20  THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  MODERN  TURKEY  [20 

It  is  not  easy  to  test  the  degree  of  influence  of  the  spoken 
word  in  the  pre- journalistic  era.  There  can  be  no  doubt, 
however,  regarding  the  importance  of  the  written  word. 
Everything  written  was  considered  wellnigh  sacred,  and 
writers  of  every  class  were  highly  respected.  The  Hol- 
lander Anger  Busbeck,  (1522-92)  who  visited  Constanti- 
nople in  1555,  as  the  envoy  of  King  Ferdinand  of  Hungary, 
remarked  that  everyone  took  great  care  in  picking  up  any 
pieces  of  paper  from  the  floor,  lest  somebody  step  on  them. 
It  was  a  pious  deed  for  a  wealthy  man  to  establish  a  public 
library.  Centralblatt  fiir  Bibliothekwesen,  no.  6,  1907,^ 
speaks  of  ninety  thousand  men  who  made  a  living  by  copy- 
ing books,  before  the  printing  press  was  instituted. 

It  is  noteworthy  that,  in  spite  of  the  general  love  for 
books  and  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  copied  books  were  so 
expensive,  the  printing  press  was  introduced  as  late  as  1728. 
There  was,  however,  a  Jewish  printing  office  in  Constanti- 
nople at  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  century,  and  several  Greek 
and  Armenian  offices  in  1628.^  The  fact  that  the  Turks 
did  not  seem  to  be  aware  of  them,  illustrates  plainly  how 
independently  from  each  other  the  different  elements  of 
population  in  Turkey  lived. 

Moreover,  a  trustworthy  historian  like  Moustafa  Pasha 
relates^  that  during  the  reign  of  Murad  III  (i 574-1 595) 
permission  was  given  to  a  foreigner  to  import  a  press  to 
Turkey  and  to  print  Turkish  books.  This  press  was  even 
exempted  from  import  duty.  Moustafa  Pasha  pretends  to 
have  seen  in  the  library  of  the  Sheikh-ul-Islam  Hassam 

^  This  statement  is  based  upon  the  observations  of  Marsigli,  Stato 
militare  dell'Imperio  Ottomano,  Bibliotheque  frangaise,  xvii,  1732,  pp. 
313,  314. 

2Ubicini,  Letters  on  Turkey  (London,  1826),  vol.  i,  p.  235. 

^ Netaij-ul-vukuhat.  (Results  of  Events),  second  edition  (Constan- 
tinople, 1911),  vol.  iii,  p.  no. 


21  ]  THE  PRE-JOURNALISTIC  PERIOD  2 1 

Effendi,  a  Turkish  book  printed  in  996  A.  H.  (1588).  If 
true,  this  report  illustrates  the  attitude  maintained  towards 
change  both  in  the  rise  and  decay  periods  of  Turkish 
history,  at  seems  that  in  the  period  of  rise  and  growth,  ^ 
when  the  military  class  had  the  lead,  an  innovation  of  such 
magnitude  could  be  introduced  on  mere  secular  authority, 
without  obtaining  the  sanction  of  the  high  juris-consult  in 
canon  law.  In  the  period  of  decay,  on  the  other  hand, 
when  supremacy  had  passed  over  to  the  religious  class,  great 
opposition  was  made  against  the  introduction  of  any  such 
European  invention.  It  was  only  through  the  threats  of  the 
enlightened  Grand  Vezir  Ibrahim  Pasha  that  the  religious 
authorities  could  be  induced  to  give  their  consent  to  the 
establishment  of  a  Turkish  printing  press. 

Ibrahim  Pasha's  time  was  one  of  quiet  and  peace.  He 
purposefully  avoided  wars  in  spite  of  the  provocation  of- 
fered by  the  European  situation,  and  devoted  his  attention 
to  matters  of  learning  and  art.  Among  other  improve- 
ments, he  established  a  public  library  in  17 19. 

In  the  same  year,  he  instructed  Tchelebi  Mehmed 
Effendi  ^  who  was  going  to  Paris  as  a  special  envoy  "  to 
become  acquainted  with  the  conditions  of  progress  and 
learning  in  France  and  to  report  on  those  phases  of  them 
which  w^ere  applicable  in  Turkey." 

Mehmed  Effendi  was  accompanied  on  his  trip  by  his  son 
Said  Effendi.  The  young  man  was  above  all  impressed  by 
the  advantages  of  printing  and  ascribed  to  them  the  rapid 
progress  made  in  Europe.  He  decided  at  once  to  introduce 
it  in  Turkey.  The  official  historiographer  of  the  period, 
Assimme  Effendi,  gives  this  account  of  the  matter;  ^ 

^  Mehmed  Eifendi's  account  of  his  trip,  Ebouz-Zia  Edition  (Constan- 
tinople, 1306  [1890]),-?.  4. 

2  Abdurahman  Sheref,  Tarikhi-Devleti-Osmania  (Constantinople, 
second  edition,  1900),  vol.  ii,  p.  153. 


22  THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  MODERN  TURKEY  [22 

...  It  became  clear  in  the  penetrating  eyes  of  Said  Effendi 
that  the  Frank  people  who  are  the  devils  of  the  human  species 
were  making  easy  the  achievement  of  many  a  difficult  matter 
by  using  the  tools  of  thought  and  imagination.  It  remained 
specially  fixed  on  the  pages  of  his  mind  that  they  could  produce 
several  hundreds  of  illustrious  books  in  a  short  time  through 
the  art  of  printing  and  multiplying.  That  created  in  him  the 
wish  of  spreading  this  desirable  art  in  the  paradise-like  Turk- 
ish territories  and  to  increase  the  number  of  rare  and  expen- 
sive books  which  constitute  the  instruments  of  higher  learning. 

Said  Effendi  found  a  capable  co-worker  in  the  person  of 
a  Hungarian  renegade  named  Ibrahim  Effendi/  Together 
they  drew  up  an  elaborate  memoir  detailing  the  benefits  of 
printing.  This  memoir  was  presented  to  the  Sultan  through 
the  Grand  Vezir  Ibrahim  Pasha. 

At  the  first  rumor  of  the  proposed  innovation  alarm 
spread  throughout  Constantinople.  The  many  thousands 
of  scribes,  living  by  copying  books  saw  their  profession  in 
peril.  The  theologians  found  the  new  project  profane;  the 
emanations  of  human  intelligence,  they  alleged,  having  al- 
ways been  handed  down  to  posterity  by  writing,  ought  not 
to  be  subjected  to  any  less  carefully  made  transmission.  A 
third  party,  the  scholars  and  those  who  cherished  literature 
for  its  own  sake,  were  disturbed  by  fears  lest  the  precious 
art  of  caligraphy,  which  shed  glory  even  on  the  noblest 
thoughts,  by  the  beauteous  lines  and  marvelous  symbolical 
interlacings  of  the  letters  and  ciphers  it  employed  in  ex- 
pressing them,  should  be  lost  to  mankind. 

"  Notwithstanding  all  opposition,  however,  the  result 
took  place  which  will  invariably  occur  in  Turkey,  when- 
ever an  energetic  and  enlightened  sovereign  is  supported  by 
a  Grand  Vezir  and  a  Sheikh-ul-Islam  capable  of  compre- 

1  There  is  now  a  movement  set  afoot  in  Turkey  by  the  friends  of  the 
City   of   Constantinople   to   erect   a   mausoleum    for    Ibrahim    Effendi. 


-23]  THE  PRE-JOURNALISTIC  PERIOD  23 

hending  and  assisting  his  views."  ^  The  copyists  were 
silenced  by  the  promise  that  the  government  would  not  al- 
low the  printing  of  religious  books,  and  that  it  would  sup- 
port them  in  need.  The  means  resorted  to  for  checking  the 
fanatical  opposition  was  to  obtain  a  fatva  from  Sheikh-ul- 
Islam  Abdullah  Effendi  to  the  effect  that  the  innovation  was 
in  accordance  with  the  canon  law  and  religious  principles. 

A  fatva  is  an  opinion  or  decision  as  to  requirements  of 
the  canon  law,  formally  given  on  an  abstruse  case  of  law  by 
an  officer  duly  appointed  for  the  purpose.  A  fatva  specially 
issued  by  the  Sheikh-ul-Islam  is  of  aboslute  effect,  anci 
means,  both  in  a  legal  and  religious  way,  immediate  social 
sanction.  It  must  be  ren:?nibered  that  the  three  last  Sultans 
of  Turkey  lost  their  throne  as  a  result  of  a  fatva.  A  fatva 
gave  Sultan  Mahmoud  II  the  power  to  dissolve  the  whole 
military  corps  of  janissaries. 

The  fatva  in  the  case  of  the  printing  press,^  was  this : 

v^uestion  —  If  Zaid,^  who  pretends  to  have  ability  in  the  art 
of  printing  says  that  he  can  engrave  on  molds  the  figures  of 
letters  and  words  of  books  edited  on  language,  logic,  philoso- 
phy, astronomy  and  similar  secular  subjects,  and  produce 
copies  of  such  books  by  pressing  the  paper  on  the  molds,  is 
the  practice  of  such  a  process  of  printing  permissible  to  Zaid 
by  canon  law.    An  opinion  is  asked  on  this  matter. 

iVnswer — God  knows  it  best.  If  a  person  who  has  ability  in 
the  art  of  printing  engraves  the  letters  and  words  of  a  cor- 
rected book  correctly  on  a  mold  and  produces  many  copies 
without  difficulty  in  a  short  time  by  pressing  the  paper  on  that 
mold,  the  abundance  of  books  might  cheapen  the  price  and  re- 
sult in  their  increased  purchase.     This  being  a  tremendous 

1  Ubicini,  op.  cit.,  p.  237. 

2  Abdurahman  Sheref,  op.  cit.,  vol.  ii,  pp.  153,  154. 

^  Zaid  and  Amr  are  the  Caius  and  Sempronius  of  Mohammedan  law. 


24  THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  MODERN  TURKEY  [24 

benefit,  the  matter  is  a  highly  laudable  one.  Permission  should 
be  granted  to  that  person,  but  some  learned  persons  should  be 
appointed  to  correct  the  book  the  figures  of  which  are  to  be 
engraved. 

Upon  this,  the  imperial  mandate  of  July  5,  1727,  was 
issued  sanctioning  the  printing  of  books  and  appointing 
four  censors  to  supervise  the  working  of  the  printing  office. 

The  first  book  printed  was  an  Arabic-Turkish  Dictionary. 
It  contained  the  text  of  the  fatva,  and  articles  written  by 
several  persons  of  learning,  high  in  the  religious  hierarchy, 
on  the  benefits  of  printing.^ 

The  books  printed  within  the  first  three  decades  were  not 
large  in  number.  In  1756,  twenty-nine  years  after  the 
foundation  of  the  establishment,  only  eighteen  works,  form- 
ing twenty-five  volumes  had  been  printed.  Of  these,  six- 
teen thousand  five  hundred  copies  in  all  were  issued,  the 
prices  of  which,  fixed  by  the  government,  varied  from  $8 
to  $17  each,  American  money. 

According  to  Ubicini,^  the  price  of  an  ordinary  folio 
manuscript  at  the  time,  without  ornament  or  illuminations 
varied  from  thirty  to  thirty-six  pounds  sterling.  Copies 
of  the  Koran  from  the  pen  of  Hafiz  Osman  or  any  equally 
celebrated  transcriber  in  Nessik  caligraphy,  were  two  hun- 
^dred  to  two  hundred-fifty  pounds. 

Owing  to  the  deaths  of  the  initiators  and  their  pupils,  and 
to  the  continuous  and  disastrous  wars,  the  printing  press 
was  neglected  from  1756  to  1783.  In  1784,  it  was  re- 
established as  the  result  of  an  imperial  order. 

Hammer  and  Bianchi  ^  give  a  catalogue  of  all  the  works 

^  Tarikhi-Djevdet  (Constantinople,  1855-84),  vol.  i,  special  chapter 
on  printing. 

2  Ubicini,  op.  cit.,  vol.  i,  p.  238. 

3  Hammer,  History  of  the  Ottoman  Empire   (French  Edition),  vol. 
^  xiv.     Bianchi,  appendix  to  his  Notice  of  a  Treatise  on  Anatomy,  by 

Chain  Zadeh. 


25]  THE  PRE-JOURNALISTIC  PERIOD  25 

published  up  to  the  year  1828.  They  consisted  of  eighty 
works,  forming  ninety-one  volumes.  Among  them  in  num- 
bers, history  and  geography  came  first  with  eighteen 
volumes.  Sixteen  volumes  were  devoted  to  language,  four- 
teen to  religion,  thirteen  to  mathematics,  astronomy  and 
medicine,  eleven  to  jurisprudence,  four  to  rhetoric,  three 
to  military  scubjects,  and  two  to  metaphysics.  The  rest 
were  publications  connected  with  the  administration 
of  government.  After  the  reform  of  Mahmoud  II,  the 
number  of  publications  suddenly  increased,  amounting  to 
one  hundred  and  eight  works  between  1830  and  1842.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  printing  establishment  of  Boulak, 
founded  in  Egypt  in  1821,  by  Mehmed  Ali  Pasha,  had  pub- 
lished in  the  first  twenty  years  of  its  existence  two  hun- 
dred and  forty-three  works  in  Turkish,  Arabic  and 
Persian.^ 

There  was  also  a  separate  establishment  at  Constantinople 
for  the  translation  and  publication  of  all  works  relating 
to  the  theory  and  practice  of  the  art  of  war. 

It  is  striking  that  no  books  of  imaginative  and  purely 
literary  character  were  published  for  more  than  a  century 
after  the  institution  of  printing,  although  collections  of 
poetry  used  to  form  a  prominent  feature  on  Turkish  book 
shelves.  This  may  be  explained  by  the  fact  that  the  print- 
ing press  was  at  first  a  purely  governmental  institution  and 
had  to  be  used  systematically  as  an  agent  of  enlightenment 
and  progress.  The  pressing  character  of  the  time  did  not 
allow  the  reformers  to  go  beyond  practical  considerations 
or  to  give  attention  to  aesthetic  pleasure  and  literary 
amusement. 

According  to  the  Turkish  Historian,  Abdurahman 
Sheref,"  the  effect  of  the  distribution  of  books  by  means 

1  A  complete  catalogue  by  Bianchi,  Paris,  1843. 

2  Op.  cit.,  vol.  ii,  p.  57. 


26  THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  MODERN  TURKEY  [26 

of  printing  was  great  and  immediate.  "  The  books  first 
printed  were  mostly  on  history  and  geography.  They  gave 
serenity  to  the  mind  and  enabled  people  to  interpret  the 
present  through  the  events  of  the  past,  and  to  foresee  the 
future.  This  and  the  intercourse  with  European  envoys 
and  ministers  brought  about  at  least  among  the  people  of 
distinction,  an  appreciation  for  new  inventions  and  esteem 
and  sympathy  for  the  European  civilization." 

One  of  the  results  of  this  change  of  attitude  was  the 
establishment  of  a  press  bureau,  where  the  most  important 
European  papers  were  read  and  the  parts  of  interest 
translated.  The  translations  were  often  carefully  con- 
served in  the  archives  as  historical  documents.  The 
historian  Jevdet  Pasha  in  his  books  repeatedly  makes  use 
of  such  documents.  For  the  purpose  of  this  bureau,  Fred- 
erick the  Great  of  Prussia  was  asked  to  give  the  names  of 
two  papers  which  might  keep  Turkey  in  touch  with  the  real 
state  of  affairs  in  Europe.  Frederick  promptly  recom- 
mended La  Gazette  de  Cleves  and  Le  Courrier  du  Bas-Rhin, 
which  not  only  were  inspired  by  him  constantly,  but  were 
furnished  with  articles  written  by  himself,  as  well,  on  inter- 
national politics.^ 

In  spite  of  the  appreciation  of  the  power  of  the  press, 
manifested  in  the  establishment  of  a  press  bureau,  no  at- 
tempt was  made  until  183 1  to  publish  a  Turkish  paper.  In 
the  old  order  of  things  there  was  simply  no  need  and  no 
place  for  a  paper.  It  came  after  Mahmoud  II  had  estab- 
lished, at  least  in  form,  a  new  order  of  things,  and  after 
new  ideas  of  government  were  embodied  in  Turkish  life  as 
a  consequence  of  Western  influences. 

1  Zinkeisen,  Geschichte  des  osmanischen  Retches  in  Europe,  vol.  vi, 
pp.  290-291.    Hamburg,  1840-63. 


CHAPTER  III 
The  Era  of  Genesis 

Sultan  Mahmoud  II,  (1808-1839)  is  a  very  interesting 
figure  in  Turkish  history.  He  came  to  the  throne  of  Turkey 
in  a  most  critical  time.  The  empire  was  in  rapid  process 
of  dissolution.  The  attempts  of  Selim  III  at  reform  had 
ended  in  his  being  murdered.  The  capital  was  dominated 
by  a  reactionary  mob  of  janissaries.  The  provinces  had 
becorne  semi-independent. 

The  young  Sultan  bravely  took  up  a  single-handed 
struggle  against  the  existing  abuses  and  prejudices.  He 
cleared  the  way  for  reforms  by  destroying  the  janissaries 
and  the  semi- feudal  system  in  the  provinces.  He  succeeded 
in  building  a  modern  structure  on  the  old  ground.  It  is 
true  that  this  was  only  a  superficial  imitation  of  the  West- 
ern systems,  and  that  it  remained  to  a  great  extent  only  on 
paper  or  in  name  and  form.  But  still,  considered  in  the 
light  of  the  previous  conditions,  Mahmoud's  work  was 
really  amazing. 

In  his  efforts  to  modernize  Turkey,  he  saw  the  necessity 
of  securing  the  support  and  co-operation  of  his  people. 
One  of  the  most  important  steps  he  took  in  this  direction  i^ 
was  the  founding  of  a  newspaper. 

Sultan  Mahmoud's  paper  was,  however,  neither  the  first 
paper  published  in  Turkey,  nor  the  first  periodical  publica- 
tion in  the  Turkish  language.  The  first  Turkish  periodi- 
cal was  the  Turkish-Arabic  semi-weekly,  established  on 
November  20,  1828,  in  Egypt,  by  Mehmed  Ali  Pasha. ^  ' 

^  Journal  Asiatique,  183 1,  vol.  xix,  p.  231. 
27]  27 


28     THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  MODERN  TURKEY         [28 

Verminhac,  French  minister  to  Constantinople,  had  pub- 
-    lished  in  1795,  a  French  Gazette  for  some  time.     In  181 1, 
the  French  legation  issued  bulletins  on  the  movements  of 
Napoleon/ 

The  first  real  newspaper  was  the  Spectateur  de  V  Orient, 
established  in  1825  at  Smyrna,  by  a  Frenchman  named 
Alexandre  Blacque.  This  paper,  the  name  of  which  was 
^  later  changed  to  the  Coiirrier  de  Smyrne,  proved  itself  of 
great  service  to  Turkey  by  defending  her  interests  during 
the  international  complications  of  the  time,  especially  dur- 
ing the  Greek  revolt.  In  this  connection  it  often  took 
occasion  to  attack  vigorously  the  policy  of  Russia.  The 
Russian  ambassador,  becoming  extremely  alarmed,  made 
remonstrances  to  theSublime  Porte  on  the  subject.^ 

The  Porte  however,  took  an  evasive  attitude,  promising 
much  and  doing  little.  Repeated  discussions  took  place  in 
this  regard  between  the  ambassador  and  Akif  Pasha,  the 
Minister  for  Foreign  Affairs.  In  one  of  them,  the  envoy 
of  Russia  used  the  following  argument : 

It  is  true  that  in  France  and  England  journalists  are  free  to 
write  anything,  even  against  their  kings.  But  it  is  also  true 
that  in  former  times,  several  wars  were  caused  between  Eng- 
land and  France  by  the  newspapers.  Praise  be  to  God,  the 
Ottoman  Empire  was  saved  from  this  evil,  until  that  man  ap- 
peared in  Smyrna,  and  began  to  publish  his  paper.  It  would 
be  very  wise  to  stop  him.  I  am  free  to  go  about  naked  in  my 
house,  but  if  I  go  to  the  street  in  that  way,  I  am  immediately 
arrested  as  a  lunatic.  Similarly,  that  French  journalist  may 
express  himself  freely  in  his  own  country,  but  must  be  pre- 

*  Ubicini  and  Courteille,  Etat  present  de  V Empire  Ottomane  (Paris, 
1876),  pp.  167  ff. 

'  The  whole  incident  is  related  in  A.  Lutfi's  annals,  vol.  iii,  p.  98, 
Constantinople,  1874-86. 


29]  THE  ERA  OF  GENESIS  29 

vented  from  doing  so,  and  from  attacking  friendly  powers 
when  he  is  in  Turkey. 

Instead  of  satisfying  Russia,  the  Turkish  government 
during  the  very  year  of  this  diplomatic  incident,  invited 
Mr.  Blacque  to  publish  in  Constantinople,  and  in  the  French 
language,  an  official  paper,  with  a  view  of  defending  the 
interests  of  the  Empire.  The  paper  was  called  Moniteur 
Ottoman,  and  was  followed  the  next  year  by  the  Takvimi- 
Vekayih,  the  first  Turkish  paper  in  Turkey. 

Sultan  Mahmoud's  order  of  1247  (1832)  regarding  the 
establishment  of  a  newspaper  was  in  the  following  terms  : 

.  .  .  The  publication  of  a  newspaper  was  for  me  an  ideal 
for  a  very  long  time..  But  as  the  time  was  not  yet  ripe,  I  pre- 
ferred to  wait  for  the  proper  moment.  As  the  time  is  now 
ripe,  and  as  the  matter  does  not  harm  our  laws  and  religion, 
and  is  willingly  recommended  by  everybody  to  be  highly  bene- 
ficial, we  desire  to  proceed  to  the  establishment  of  a  news- 
paper. ... 

A  list  of  suggested  names  was  presented  to  the  Sultan  all 
of  which  he  passed  over,  but  he  devised  himself  the  name 
of  Takvimi-Vekayih  (The  Calendar  of  Events).  It  ap- 
peared under  this  name  on  May  14,  1832. 

The  first  number  contained  a  leading  article  which  w^as 
written  to  justify  for  a  newspaper  the  right  of  existence. 
It  is  striking  that  the  article  does  not  even  allude  to  the 
progress  of  the  press  in  Europe,  and  to  the  existence  of  the 
Turkish  paper  in  Egypt,  or  to  the  French  papers  in  Turkey. 
It  simply  represents  the  publication  of  a  newspaper  as  the 
logical  continuation  of  the  old  Turkish  tradition  of  employ- 
ing official  historiographers  to  publish  at  regular  intervals, 
historical  annals. 

The  article  says  in  part : 


30  THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  MODERN  TURKEY         [30 

To  know  the  events  of  the  past  serves  to  keep  up  the  laws 
and  the  character  of  the  Empire  and  the  solidarity  of  the 
nation.  It  is  for  this  purpose  that  the  government  has  always 
employed  historiographers  and  published  historical  works. 

However,  if  the  daily  events  are  not  made  public  at  the  time 
of  their  occurrence,  and  their  true  nature  is  not  disclosed,  the 
people  are  apt  to  interpret  governmental  acts  in  ways  which 
are  not  even  dreamed  of  or  imagined  by  the  authors.  Human 
nature  is  always  inclined  to  attack  and  criticize  everything,  the 
character  and  truth  of  which  it  does  not  know.  In  order  to 
check  the  attacks  and  misunderstandings  and  to  give  people 
rest  of  mind,  and  satisfaction,  it  is  necessary  to  make  them 
acquainted  with  the  real  nature  of  events.  It  would  also  be  a 
useful  thing  for  the  people  and  a  beneficial  act  for  the  empire 
and  nation  to  make  public  facts  on  sciences,  fine  arts  and  trade. 
It  would  be  difficult  to  do  this  work  of  publication  day  by  day 
by  mere  handwriting.  The  easy  way  would  be  to  use  a  press, 
similar  to  the  one  already  existing  in  the  imperial  capital. 

As  the  kindness  of  His  Majesty  regarding  all  his  subjects, 
and  his  good  will  to  all  friendly  powers  are  evident,  the  utility 
of  the  work  will  be  extended  to  them  by  making  publications 
in  languages  other  than  Turkish.  It  has  been  decided  to  em- 
ploy for  this  purpose  a  reliable  foreign  refugee. 

The  paper  will  comprise  two  parts.  The  first  will  contain 
official  communications  concerning  internal  affairs,  and  the 
second  unofficial  news,  educational,  scientific,  industrial  and 
commercial  articles  and  a  record  of  events,  appearing  in  the 
"  Mirror  of  the  Universe "  according  to  times  and  circum- 
stances. 

The  Sultan  took  great  interest  in  the  paper.  He  directed 
its  policy  and  gave  attention  even  to  details  in  its  style. 
On  the  occasion  of  his  trip  to  Varna,  the  editor  of  the  paper, 
had  written  a  long  note  in  the  old  official  style.  Upon  this, 
the  following  imperial  order  was  issued :  ^ 

'  A.  Lutfi,  op.  cit.,  vol.  iv,  p.  90. 


31  ]  THE  ERA  OF  GENESIS  3 1 

It  cannot  be  denied  that  the  note  was  well  and  masterfully 
written.     Care  must  be  taken,  however,  that  matters  of  this 
kind  addressed  to  the  people  at  large  should  be  edited  in  a 
popular  style,  and  should  contain  only  words  and  terms  intcl-^ 
ligible  to  everybody. 

Then,  the  Sultan  proceeded  to  enumerate  the  words  in  the 
note  in  question  which  a  popular  publication  should  not  use. 
The  Sultan  himself  used  simple  and  paternal  language  in  all  ^ 
his  communications  to  the  functionaries. 

Sultan  Mahmoud's  newspaper  began  its  business  life  in 
a  very  peculiar  way.  Instead  of  seeking  subscribers,  "  a 
list  was  made  of  all  state  officials,  people  of  learning,  and 
notables,  both  in  the  capital  and  in  the  provinces,  as  well  as 
of  foreign  ambassadors  and  ministers,  and  mostly  all  of  the 
five  thousand  copies  printed,  were  distributed  according 
to  that  list."  ^  As  the  post  service  was  organized  during 
the  same  year,  it  may  fairly  be  assumed  that  this  was 
stimulated  by  the  necessity  of  sending  off  the  thousands  of 
newspaper  copies  every  week. 

The  attitude  taken  by  official  Europe  towards  the  im- 
portation of  journalism  in  Turkey  is  illustrated  by  the 
following  lines  written  in  1853 :  ^ 

The  beginnings  of  journalism  in  Turkey  at  first  passed  unre- 
garded, or  were  considered  as  abortive  efforts  which  would 
quickly  expire  of  themselves,  but  when  it  was  seen  that  they 
daily  grew  in  strength  and  importance  and  were  taking  a  firm 
root  in  the  country,  great  uneasiness  began  to  manifest  itself 
amongst  the  European  missions  and  embassies  at  Pera ;  partly . 
from  the  dislike  with  which  every  tendency  to  Turkish  reform 
and  improvement  was  beheld  by  certain  parties,  partly  from 
the  jealousy  which  these  missions  always  entertained  of  each 

*  A.  Lutfi,  op.  cit.,  vol.  iii,  p.  156. 
2  M.  A.  Ubicini,  op.  cit.,  p.  247. 


32  THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  MODERN  TURKEY  [32 

other's  influence,  and  which  on  the  present  occasion  they  united 
in  entertaining  towards  that  of  France. 

Secret  intrigues  and  open  opposition  were  employed  to  crush 
and  annihilate  the  rising  innovation.  Some  even  affecting  a 
display  of  alarm  and  uneasiness  for  the  consequences  to  the 
Turkish  government,  addressed  notes  of  warning  and  re- 
monstrance to  the  Porte,  but  happily,  in  this  instance.  Sultan 
^  Mahmoud,  relying  on  his  own  strength,  turned  a  deaf  ear  to 
the  representations  of  his  European  friends. 

For  some  time,  Takvimi-vacayih  remained,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  the  almanac  of  the  court  astrologer,  the  only 
Turkish  periodic  publication.  In  1843,  ^^  Englishman, 
Mr.  N.  Churchill  by  name,  established  the  Djeridei-Havadis 
(Register  of  News)  a  Turkish  weekly  (later  issued  five 
times  a  week),  which  was  devoted  chiefly  to  foreign  politics. 
According  to  Ubicini,^  this  paper,  as  well  as  several  French 
papers,  received  an  annual  subvention  of  about  fourteen 
hundred  dollars. 

In  spite  of  the  restriction  involved  in  governmental  sup- 
port and  the  embarrassment  caused  by  the  interference  of 
foreign  embassies,  the  small  number  of  papers  had  a  re- 
volutionizing effect.  Ubicini,  who  wrote  his  book  before 
the  Crimean  War,  says :  ^ 

If  we  compare  the  state  of  things  in  Turkey  thirty  years  ago 
with  what  it  is  at  the  present  day,  we  shall  be  struck  with  the 
wonderful  change,  and  this  change,  this  progress,  this  recog- 
nition of  many  of  the  advantages  which  Western  nations  pos- 
sess, giving  rise  as  it  naturally  does,  to  a  desire  to  acquire 
their  languages,  their  arts  and  their  science — all  that  hereto- 
fore was  ignored  and  despised,  now  justly  appreciated — has  it 
not  been  brought  about  in  a  great  measure  by  the  influence  of 
the  press? 

^  Op.  cit.,  p.  251.  '  Ibid.,  p.  252. 


33]  THE  ERA  OF  GENESIS  33 

The  Crimean  War  and  the  general  eagerness  to  get  war 
news  gave  a  new  turn  to  the  position  of  the  press,  extend- 
ing the  circle  of  readers  and  making  the  ground  ready  for" 
self-supporting  and  independent  newspapers.     Papers   of 
this  type  were  bound  to  come  soon,  because  there  was  a  new 
movement  afoot,   a  spirit   of   dissent  and   revolt,'  which  * 
needed    expression.      Hitherto,    most   of    the   reforms    in 
Turkey  were  made  under  the  pressure  of  dangerous  situ- 
ations, and  they  formed  a  structure  modern  in  form,  but 
loose  and  without  coordination.   A  by-product  of  the  reform 
era  was  a  new  type  of  young  men,  who  were  sincere  but 
over-zealous    patriots,    nationalists,    instead    of    religious  *^ 
fanatics.      They  wanted  to  save  Turkey  from  decay  by 
awakening  a  new  national  consciousness  and  ending  foreign  *" 
interventions  and  intrigues.     The  method  they  devised  for 
attaining  this  was  simple :  it  was  to  adopt  the  most  progres- 
sive system  of  government,  and  the  most  advanced  Euro- 
pean laws.     This  naive  radicalism  which  is  common  to  all 
subsequent  periods  of  Turkish  history,  as  well  as  to  the 
reformers  of  all  backward  countries,  had  a  great  advant- 
age :  it  made  the  discontented  and  radical  elements  keep 
more  or  less  united  in  the  struggle  towards  a  common  goal 
— at  least  as  long  as  they  had  something  to  oppose.    As  early 
as  1858,  the  young  idealists  organized  a  conspiracy  under "^ 
the  direction  of  a  general  named  Husni  Pasha,  to  secure  the 
proclamation  of  a  parliamentary  system  of  government.^  "^ 
Those  who  took  part  in  it  were  so  numerous  that  the  plans 
could  not  be  kept  secret  for  any  length  of  time  and  the  • 
attempt  failed,  but  the  spirit  which  had  fostered  it  gained 
strength  in  spite  of  this  failure.  As  a  result  of  the  close  con- 
tact with  Europeans  during  the  Crimean  War,  everybody, 
even  every  class  of  religious  dignitaries,  hitherto  opposed 

^  Ed.  Englehardt,  La  Turque  et  le  Tanzimat,  vol.  i,  p.  158,  Paris,  1882.  ^ 


v" 


34  THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  MODERN  TURKEY         [34 

to  change,  had  the  feeling  that  something  big  and  great 
had  to  be  done  for  the  future  of  the  country.  Pamphlets 
advocating  reforms  and  using  the  progress  of  Europe  as  an 
argument  found  wide  circulation.  Societies  of  different 
kinds  were  formed,  and  the  coffee  house,  that  important 
Turkish  institution,  gained  more  and  more  the  character 
of  a  literary  and  political  club. 

It  was  in  this  time  of  animation  and  militancy  that  the 
first  non-official  and  self-supporting  newspaper  was  launched 
(i860)  by  a  young  man  named  Shinassi,  with  the  support 
of  his  friend  Aghah  Effendi.  It  was  called  Terjumani- 
Ahval  (Interpreter  of  Conditions).^  This  was  the  first  in- 
stance of  the  uniting  of  an  idealist  with  a  capitalist  for  the 
purpose  of  publishing  a  paper  which  was  to  be  the  personal 
organ  of  the  former,  a  method  which  often  had  to  be  re- 
sorted to  in  the  period  of  the  rise  of  the  Turkish  press.  The 
capitalists  have  been  in  most  cases  Armenians  or  Greeks. 

The  publication  of  this  newspaper  marks  an  epoch  in  the 
history  of  both  Ottoman  literature  and  of  the  Ottoman  lan- 
guage. Not  only  was  it  the  first  non-official  journal  in  Turkey ; 
it  was  the  first  utterance  of  the  Modern  School,  that  school 
which  was  destined,  in  the  brief  space  of  twenty  years,  to 
sweep  from  the  stage  the  crumbling  debris  of  five  centuries  of 
Asiaticism.2 

^'  Shinassi  (1827-1871),  the  founder  of  the  paper,  was  un- 
like most  of  the  Turkish  reformers.  He  had  studied  in 
y  Paris  at  the  expense  of  the  government,  and  there  he  had 
had  excellent  opportunities  and  connections  to  keep  him  in 
contact  with  the  best  French  thinkers  of  the  time.  His 
line   of   study   was   pure    science.      Upon   his   return,    he 

'  Munif   Pasha,   Mejmou'a-i-Fimoon    (Constantinople,   i860),  vol.   i, 
no.  I. 
>/      «  Gibb,  History  of  Ottoman  Poetry,  vol.  iv,  p.  26. 


35]  THE  ERA  OF  GENESIS  35 

clearly  saw  what  the  country  required  for  modernizing 
itself.  It  needed  above  all,  he  thought,  a  new  language,  a 
simple  and  common  means  of  expression,  instead  of  con- 
stant political  agitation.  He,  therefore,  set  to  work  to 
improve  and  modernize  the  language.  As  a  scholar  and  a 
practical  man  of  clear  vision  he  can  hardly  be  understood  in 
terms  of  that  troublesome  time. 

His  connection  with  Terjumani-Ahval  lasted  only  six 
months.  Then  he  parted  with  his  associate  Aghah  Ef- 
fendi  and  established  a  new  paper  of  his  own.  This  was 
Tasviri-Efkiar  (The  Tablet  of  Opinion).  In  this  paper, 
as  in  the  former,  his  aim  was  to  assimilate  the  intellectual 
life  of  Turkey  as  closely  as  might  be  to  that  of  Western 
nations.  He  tried  to  keep  aloof  from  political  troubles, 
devoting  his  attention  mostly  to  scientific  and  social  mat- 
ters, and  especially  to  the  improvement  and  simplification 
of  the  language. 

In  1862,  the  young  discontents  organized  themselves  for 
the  first  time,  as  a  Young  Turkish  Party.  During  the  same 
year,  the  great  writer  and  agitator  Kemal  Bey  ^  made  his 
debut  in  newspaper  work  by  joining  the  staff  of  Shinassi. 
He  immediately  became  the  soul  of  the  whole  movement. 
Shinassi  was  often  glad  to  leave  the  management  of  his 
paper  to  him  and  to  retire  to  Paris  to  do  research  work  in 
libraries  for  the  purpose  of  compiling  a  dictionary  of  the 
Turkish  language. 

In  1865,  Mushbir,  another  paper,  established  by  the  en- 
lightened theologian,  Ali  Souavi,  became  the  center  of 
Young  Turkish  agitation.  Ali  Souavi,  had  come  to  Con- 
stantinople during  that  year  as  a  religious  preacher.     He 

*  Kemal  Bey  was  born  in  183 1  at  Constantinople  of  Albanian  parents 
and  died  in  1887.  As  a  journalist,  novelist,  dramatist  and  political 
agitator,  he  played  a  prominent  part  in  the  movement  for  Turkey's 
regeneration. 


i^ 


36  THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  MODERN  TURKEY  [36 

caused  a  sensation  by  his  bold  sennons.  Soon,  he  saw  fit 
to  create  a  more  general  platform  for  himself  by  publish- 
ing his  Mushhir  (Herald  of  Glad  Tidings).  This  paper 
at  once  indulged  in  revolutionary  publications  and  in  fierce 
attacks  against  the  persons  of  Aali  and  Fouad  Pasha,  the 
two  leading  statesmen  of  the  day. 

For  the  first  time  the  necessity  was  felt  to  put  some  kind 
V  of  restraint  upon  the  press.  The  press  law  of  January, 
1865,  was  promulgated  and  a  press  bureau  instituted  tO' 
watch  over  the  execution  of  law. 

The  law  soon  proved  helpless  in  checking  the  revolu- 
tionary publications  and  the  personal  attacks  against  those 
in  power.  Then,  a  step  was  taken,  which  has  been  charac- 
teristic of  the  Turkish  system  of  government  ever  since. 
The  government  decided,  "  on  account  of  considerations 
of  public  order,  to  act,  as  often  as  the  interests  of  the  coun- 
try required,  through  administrative  channels^,  and  inde- 
pendently of  the  existing  press  law,  against  newspapers 
which  should  disregard  the  principles,  the  observation  of 
which  is  the  essential  condition  of  a  national  press." 

This  regulation  suspended  the  more  or  less  liberal  press 

law,  and  opened  the  way  to  arbitrary  measures.     The  three 

^stages  followed  were  warning,  suspension,  and  suppression 

of  undesirable  papers.      This  practice  of  promulgating  a 

liberal  law,  and  suspending  it  through  extraordinary  meas- 

^    ures  became  after  that  time  the  usual  procedure  in  Turkey. 

In  1867,  Mushhir,  the  Young  Turkish  revolutionary  or- 
-  gan,  became  a  victim  of  the  new  regulation.  In  the  midst 
of  internal  and  external  troubles,  the  agitation  of  the 
Young  Turks  had  become  more  than  unwelcome  to  the 
government.  An  especially  frenetic  article  written  on  the 
^  occasion  of  the  evacuation  of  Belgrade  was  used  as  a  pre- 
text to  suppress  their  organ,  and  to  exile  them  from  the 
capital,  by  appointing  them  to  provincial  positions.     They 


37]  THE  ERA  OF  GENESIS  37 

preferred,  however,  to  flee  to  London,  and  manage  from 
there,  their  political  agitation.  They  co-ordinated  their 
Mtishbir  with  a  Young  Turkish  paper  of  minor  importance, 
called  Hurriet  (Liberty),  established  there  in  1864/  Also 
a  review  named  Oidloum  (Sciences)  was  published  for 
some  time.  Besides  all  this,  they  kept  producing  pamphlets 
of  every  kind,  some  of  them  forming  very  interesting  and 
precious  documents  in  Turkish  literature. 

Thousands  of  copies  were  regularly  sent  to  Turkey  and 
diffused  even  in  the  most  remote  parts  of  the  country.  In 
spite  of  the  diligence  of  the  police  not  a  single  copy  fellr 
into  the  hands  of  the  authorities.  In  order  to  under- 
stand how  this  was  possible,  it  must  be  remembered  that 
Turkey  possessed,  outside  of  her  own  post  system,  a  whole 
set  of  foreign  postoflices,  which  she  could  not  control  or 
influence  in  any  way.  These  postoflices  originated,  as  did 
all  of  the  privileges  conceded  by  Turkey  to  the  foreign 
powers,  as  a  specific  mark  of  courtesy.  More  and  more, 
these  privileges  took  the  form  of  an  established  right. 

Through  the  treaty  of  Kutchuk-Kainarji  (1774),  Russia^ 
had  obtained  permission  to  have  her  embassy's  mail  carried 
by  special  messengers.  The  other  embassies  promptly  fol- 
lowed her  in  this  practice.  Little  by  little  the  privilege  was 
extended  to  private  correspondence,  and  finally  foreign 
postoflices  were  established  in  the  principal  cities.  What 
an  important  part  they  were  destined  to  play  in  the  in- 
tellectual and  political  life  of  Turkey  will  be  indicated  in 
the  next  chapter. 

The  Young  Turkish  propaganda  was  certainly  of  deep 
influence  in  awakening  the  people  and  creating  a  new  na- 
tional consciousness,  but  politically  it  was  rather  destructive..^ 

1  Vambery,  Deutsche  Rundschau,  October,  1893. 


38  THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  MODERN  TURKEY         [38 

w  It  was  directed  against  a  circle  of  able  statesmen  with  poli- 
tical experience  and  the  best  of  intentions  for  the  welfare 
of  the  country.  Their  task  was  hard  enough  even  with- 
out this  agitation.  On  the  one  hand  they  had  to  cope  with, 
•^  and  to  check,  the  caprices  of  Sultan  Abdul- Aziz ;  on  the 
other  they  had  to  fight  against  the  intrigues  of  certain 

^  powers,  especially  Russia,  and  at  the  same  time  to  attempt 
to  regenerate,  in  spite  of  these  intrigues,  in  spite  of  the 
inertia  of  many  sections  of  the  native  population,  in  spite 
of  endless  material  difficulties,  a  country  in  anarchy,  in 
ignorance,  and  with  but  a  primitive  economic  equipment. 
In  addition  to  all  this,  it  was  unfortunate  to  have  to  be  em- 

-  barrassed  by  the  deadly  criticism  of  the  enlightened  class. 
As  in  the  later  periods  of  the  Turkish  reform  movement, 

^  radical  agitation  was  more  attractive  for  some  of  the  ideal- 
ists and  patriots  than  constructive  work  within  the 
field  of  practical  possibilities.  It  is  remarkable  that  the 
(/most  sweeping  reforms  in  public  instruction  were  realized 
during  the  time,  when  the  government  was  free  from  the 
immediate  attacks  of  Young  Turkish  papers.  Between 
1867  and  1870,  several  institutions  for  higher  learning 
were  established,  and  a  system  of  public  education  was 
organized  with  the  aid  of  French  experts.  French  became 
part  of  the  regular  curriculum  of  public  schools,  and  in  the 
most  important  of  them,  the  Galata-Saray  School,  it  was 
the  language  of  instruction.  The  period  was  in  every  re- 
spect a  French  one,  and  was  distinguished,  much  to  the 

I  alarm  and  displeasure  of  Russia,  by  intense  reform  activity. 
Russia  resorted  to  every  possible  means  to  check  the  course 
of  progress  in  Turkey,  so  actively,  that  Fouad  Pasha,  the 
leader  of  the  reforms,  remarked :  "  Whenever  I  lose  my 

y  way,  I  find  the  right  way  by  doing  what  Russia  is  hostile  to." 
The  misfortune  of  France  in  the  War  of  1870-71  was  a 

i  grave  blow  to  Turkey.     The  French  prestige  in  the  Orient 


39]  THE  ERA  OF  GENESIS  39 

was  destroyed.  A  strong  reaction  was  immediately  noticed 
against  reform  under  French  guidance.  Shocked  by  these 
events,  A'ali  Pasha,  *^the  last  great  statesman  of  the  old 
school,  died  in  1871.  His  power  and  influence  had  con- 
stituted an  effective  check  to  the  follies  of  the  palace  and 
to  the  intrigues  of  Russia,  as  well  as  to  the  aspirations  of 
the  reactionary  factions  of  the  population.  At  his  death, 
all  of  these  factors  triumphed.  Mahmoud  Nedim  Pasha, 
an  ignorant  man,  was  appointed  Grand  Vezir  and  soon  was 
nicknamed  by  the  people,  Mahvioudoif,  on  account  of  his 
being  a  mere  tool  of  General  Ignatieff,  the  Russian  ambas- 
sador. Under  the  intrigues  and  encouragement  of  the  rep- 
resentative of  Russia,  a  rule  of  abuse  and  corruption  be- 
gan which  ended  in  the  bankruptcy  of  the  State. 

The  new  government  had  summoned  the  Young  Turks 
back  from  London  and  Paris,  because  it  felt  helpless  tO' 
deal  with  the  critical  situation.  They  came,  but  only  to 
become  bitter  opponents  of  the  corrupt  system.  The  easy 
life  at  the  Court  and  the  endless  abuses  very  soon  stirred 
up  opposition,  and  forced  the  enlightened  elements  to  unite, 
in  a  common  struggle  for  change  and  betterment. 

Without  such  conditions  to  be  attacked,  the  rapid  pro- 
gress in  the  Turkish  press  and  literature  between  the  years 
1 87 1  and  1876  could  hardly  have  been  expected  to  take 
place,  for  the  reason  that  there  was  so  little  like-mindedness 
among  those  interested  in  the  regeneration  of  the  country. 
Only  strong  pressure  could  keep  them  together  or  prevent 
them  from  rivaling  each  other. 

Kemal  Bey,  the  leading  writer  of  the  time,  immediately 
established  a  paper  of  his  own  on  his  return  from  London. 
Its  name  was  Ihret  (Admonition).  In  its  relative  influence 
and  effect,  this  paper  has  hardly  been  surpassed  by  any 
other  periodical  in  Modern  Turkey.  Other  papers  fol- 
lowed, but  very  few  had  a  lasting  life,  and  very  few  were, 


40  THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  MODERN  TURKEY  [40 

to  any  extent,  a  financial  success.  In  a  country  where  a 
very  small  number  of  people  besides  the  state  officials  could 
read  and  write,  the  achievements  of  the  press  could  hardly 
be  expressed  in  large  numbers.  Still,  again  and  again,  there 
were  enterprises  undertaken  on  the  part  of  young  men  with 
capital  and  some  writing  ability  to  issue  a  paper  and  bring 
home  to  the  people  at  large,  the  meaning  of  right,  of  duty, 

^  of  patriotism  and  private  initiative.  Their  failure  did  not 
deter  other  young  men  from  trying  the  experiment  for 
themselves.  Besides  the  voluntary  disappearances  from 
the  scene,  it  was  an  every-day  occurrence  for  papers  to  be 
suspended  or  suppressed  by  the  government. 

The  journalists  of  prominence  were  often  sent  away  from 

^  the  capital  by  being  appointed  to  provincial  offices.     Among 

them,  Kemal  Bey,  the  editor  of  the  Ihret,  whose  paper  had 

been   repeatedly   suspended,    was   appointed    Governor   of 

V  Galippoli.     He  resigned,  however,  after  a  few  months  and 

*^  resumed  the  publication  of  the  Ihret.  In  1875,  the  popu- 
lar enthusiasm  created  by  the  performance  of   his  play 

^  Vatan  (Fatherland),  in  which  a  Turkish  girl  of  seventeen 
was  represented  as  disguising  herself  as  a  man,  and  becom- 
ing a  soldier,  like  her  fiance,  in  a  campaign  against  Russia, 
caused  the  government  to  exile  the  whole  company  of  popu- 
lar writers  to  the  Island  of  Cyprus.  In  addition  to  these 
measures  a  stamp  duty  of  one-fifth  of  a  cent  per  copy  was 
imposed  on  all  political  publications. 

In  spite  of  the  repressive  policy  of  the  government  the 
press  continued  to  grow,  both  in  numbers  and  in  quality. 
In  i860,  the  whole  empire  possessed  but  one  official  and 
one  semi-official  weekly,  both  supported  by  the  government. 
^  In  1872,^  there  were  three  dailies,  two  papers  appearing 
three   times   a   week,   a   satirical   semi-weekly,   a   satirical 

*  The  official  almanac  (SalnamS)  for  the  year  1872,  chapter  on  the 
press. 


41  ]  THE  ERA  OF  GENESIS  41 

weekly,  a  weekly  police  gazette,  a  military  weekly,  and  a 
commercial  weekly.  The  publications  in  non-Turkish  lan- 
guages were  as  follows :  French,  six  dailies  (Levant  Herald,  ^ 
Levant  Times — these  partly  in  English,  Phare  dti  Bosphore,  ^ 
Esprit,  La  Turqiiie,  Courrier  d' Orient)  and  a  weekly;  ^ 
Armenian,  three  dailies,  two  semi-weeklies,  and  six  week- 
lies; Greek,  one  daily,  two  appearing  three  times  a  week, 
three  semi-weeklies,  one  bi-weekly;  Bulgarian,  three  week- 
lies and  a  monthly;  Hebrew,  one  weekly.  One  of  the 
Armenian  papers  was  the  Avedepar,  published  since  1853 
by  the  American  Mission  Board.  It  is  still  published 
and  has  a  circulation  amounting  to  several  thousands. 
There  is  no  paper  in  Turkey  to  compete  with  it  in  length 
and  continuity  of  existence.  It  is  a  sort  of  a  family  weekly, 
giving  mostly  cultural  news.  It  also  has  a  Greek  Edition 
and  a  Turkish  Edition  in  Armenian  characters.  The  Board 
has  no  periodical  publication  in  Turkish,  but  it  has  pub- 
lished many  Turkish  works,  such  as  dictionaries  and  text- 
books. 

In  1876,  there  were  forty-seven  papers  published  in  ^ 
Constantinople.^  Thirteen  were  in  Turkish,  seven  of  them 
being  dailies,  two  semi-weeklies,  one  a  political  weekly, 
one  a  satirical  weekly,  one  a  medical  monthly  and  one  an 
illustrated  monthly.  The  papers  in  non-Turkish  languages 
included  nine  in  Greek,  nine  in  Armenian,  seven  in  French, 
three  in  Bulgarian,  two  in  English,  two  in  Hebrew,  one  in 
German,  and  one  in  Arabic.  These  forty-seven  papers 
published  in  1876  do  not  represent  the  maximum  number 
attained  between  1871  and  1876.  The  stamp  duty  and  other 
difficulties  had  already  caused  a  selection  to  take  place, 
from  which  only  those  well  founded  in  the  way  of  means 
and  equipment  survived.     Before  that  the  number  had  been 

*  Ubicini   et  Courteille,  Etat  Present   de  VEmpire   Ottoman    (Paris, 
1876),  pp.  167  et  seq. 


42  THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  MODERN  TURKEY  [42 

an  exceedingly  shifting  one.  At  times,  there  were  four  or 
five  illustrated  Turkish  satirical  weeklies.  Courteille  and 
Ubicini,  who  published  their  work  on  "  The  present  State 
of  the  Ottoman  Empire  "  in  1876,  and  consulted  the  official 
almanac  of  1876  for  information  regarding  the  press,  found 
that  some  of  the  papers  mentioned  there  did  not  exist  any 
more,  while  there  were  several  new  ones,  not  included  in  the 
official  text. 

The  activity  of  the  press  was  not  wholly  confined  to 
Constantinople.     After  the  promulgation  of  the  provincial 

*^  administration  law  of  1864,  there  began  to  be  established 

v/'^  official  weeklies,  at  the  seat  of  every  province.  They  were 
published  in  Turkish  and  often  also  in  the  language  of  the 
dominating  local  non-Turkish  community.     The  first  was 

^  the  Tona  (Danube),  published  in  the  Danubia  Province 
(Bulgaria)  in  Turkish  and  Bulgarian.  As  a  class  these 
publications  were  of  limited  importance.  Very  rarely,  ex- 
cepting when  an  especially  active  official  happened  to  take 
charge  of  one,  did  any  provincial  paper,  in  one  place  or 
another,  show  any  signs  of  life.  The  Ihret  of  Constanti- 
nople in  its  issue  of  June  19,  1872,  makes  an  ironical  re- 
view of  the  last  numbers  of  the  provincial  papers  received 
from  different  parts  of  the  empire,  and  finds  in  them,  be- 
sides official  communications,  only  bits  of  news  regarding 

^  malformed  specimens  of  new  breed  among  the  cattle  of 
some  individuals  in  the  community.  At  times  there  were 
attempts  made  by  people  in  exile  or  educated  natives  to 
publish  non-official  papers  in  provincial  towns,  but  they  were 
of  no  consequence  and  duration.     Constantinople  remained 

^  the  sole  intellectual  center  in  the  empire  and  its  great  in- 
fluence and  authority  prevented  the  provinces  from  develop- 
ing a  local  intellectual  life  of  their  own. 

Together  with  the  numerical   growth  of  the  press   in 
Constantinople,  came  refinement  and  specialization  in  the 


43]  THE  ERA  OF  GENESIS  43 

methods  of  influencing  and  educating  the  pubHc.  The 
stage  began  to  be  used  for  creating  patriotic  emotions  and  <^ 
the  novel  for  preparing  a  new  social  order.  The  hero  of 
the  new  novels  was  often  a  Young  Turk,  thirsting  for 
Western  civilization,  without  becoming  weak  in  his  relig- 
ious feelings  and  moral  ideals,  while  the  opponent  was 
either  a  reactionary  old  Turk,  or  a  young  man  degenerated 
through  contact  with  Western  life. 

Ahmed  Midhat  Effendi  w^as  the  name  of  the  remarkable 
man  who  let  others  fight  for  political  ideas  and  devoted 
his  whole  attention  to  the  treatment  of  social  problems, 
writing  a  great  many  novels  and  short  stories  on  these 
lines.  The  marriage  customs  and  the  position  of  women 
were  the  points  he  kept  especially  in  mind  in  his  struggle  for 
a  sound  social  system.  At  the  same  time,  he  published  two 
periodicals,  called  Kirk-Anbar  (Forty  Stores),^  and 
Tagardjik  (The  Wallet),  which  tried  to  acquaint  the 
Turkish  reader  with  every  branch  of  Western  knowledge. 
In  a  single  number  of  Kirk-Anbar,  there  could  be  found 
essays  on  the  chemical  composition  of  the  egg,  on  the  poetry 
of  Schiller,  on  metaphysics,  on  the  philosophy  of  history, 
on  mesmerism. 

Ahmed  Midhat  Effendi  was,  however,  not  the  pioneer 
in  the  work  of  popularizing  knowledge,  as  he  was  in  some 
other  branches.  There  was  already  a  scientific  magazine, 
named  Mejmou'a-i-Funoim  (Scientific  Magazine),  estab-' 
lished  in  1279  A.  H.  (1861)  by  Munif  Pasha,  who  later 
became  minister  of  public  instruction,  and  whose  career  is, 
closely  connected  with  the  history  of  modern  education  in 
Turkey.  This  magazine  had  many  of  the  ministers  and  ^ 
high  dignitaries  for  contributors  and  was  the  organ  of  the 

^  The  term  is  used  in  Turkish  for  a  man  acquainted  with  every  branch 
of  knowledge. 


44  THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  MODERN  TURKEY  [44 

society  for  popularizing  knowledge/  It  was  published  un- 
interruptedly for  four  years,  then  suspended,  because  most 
members  of  the  society  were  government  officials  who  rap- 
idly advanced  in  their  career  and  became  unable  to  devote 
much  attention  and  time  to  outside  matters,  and  was  re-es- 
tablished in  1882  by  Munif  Pasha,  its  original  founder.  Its 
example  was  so  stimulating  that,  within  seven  months  after 
its  foundation  in  1861,  two  new  periodicals  of  the  same  type 
sprang  up,  the  Ibr-ti-Intibah  and  the  Mir'att.  Most  of  the 
popular  periodicals  which  followed  these  three  had  very 
short  lives  but  there  were  some  that  existed  for  a  year  or 
more,  like  Hadika  (The  Orchard).  To  form  an  idea  about 
this  type  of  publication,  it  might  be  of  use  to  give  an  outline 
of  the  contents  of  one  or  two  numbers  of  this  v/eekly.  The 
number  of  May  ^'j,  1870,  of  Hadika  begins  with  an  article 
of  thanks  to  a  notable  of  the  City  of  Monastir,  who  do- 
nated yearly  subscriptions  of  the  weekly  to  the  schools  of 
his  city.  Next  comes  an  appeal  to  the  young  men  to  ac- 
quire an  earnest  scientific  training  and  to  devote  their  ener- 
gies to  productive  branches  of  work.  After  this  follows  an 
imaginary  conversation  with  an  ignorant  man  of  the  old 
type  about  the  education  of  his  children.  Next  in  order 
are  articles  in  a  popular  style  and  partly  in  dialogue  form 
on  astronomy,  photography,  botany,  agriculture,  the  his- 
torical development  of  steam  engines,  the  process  of  steel 
manufacturing,  the  future  of  our  planet,  and  a  serial  on  the 
"  history  of  philosophers." 

1  This  society  displayed  great  activity  between  1861  and  1863  in 
educating  the  masses.  For  this  purpose,  the  magazine  in  question  and 
popular  text-books  were  published,  a  public  reading  room  established, 
and  popular  courses  given  in  natural  sciences  and  history.  The  courses 
were  open  to  everybody  and  had  an  attendance  varying  between  300 
and  500.  According  to  the  information  obtained  from  the  files  of  the 
Mejmou'a-i-Funoon,  the  society  also  patronized  a  national  exhibition 
of  agricultural  and  manufactured  articles  and  agitated  in  different  ways 
to  bring  about  private  and  collective  economic  undertakings. 


45]  THE  ERA  OF  GENESIS  45 

The  number  of  October  29,  1870  contains  articles  on 
botany,  the  lunar  calendar,  mathematics,  metaphysics, 
breeding  of  domestic  animals,  lithography,  the  evolution  of 
languages,  the  measures  to  be  taken  against  careless  drug- 
gists, a  critical  study  of  the  methods  followed  in  Turkish 
elementary  schools,  a  dialogue  advocating  co-operative 
economic  enterprises  among  Turks,  and  a  serial  publication 
of  the  biography  of  the  theologian  Rufinus.  Many  of  the 
articles  Avere  translations  from  French,  bringing  a  large  *" 
part  of  the  reading  public  for  the  first  time  in  touch  with 
occidental  knowledge.  Many  were  undoubtedly  shocked 
by  the  new  ways  of  explaining  the  nature  and  relation  of 
things  offered  to  them. 

Deeper  and  more  general  was  the  feeling  of  shock  in  the 
Turkish  mind  of  that  time,  however,  against  the  methods'^ 
of  satirical  publications.  It  was  not  easy  for  the  dignified 
and  reverent  Turk  of  two  generations  ago  to  become  used 
to  a  satirical  treatment  of  serious  matters.  Still,  supported 
by  an  enterprising  Armenian  capitalist,  they  could  maintain 
their  ground  and  acquire  more  and  more  influence.  Be- 
tween 1 87 1  and  1876,  there  were  at  times  four  or  five  satiri- 
cal weeklies  and  semi-weeklies,  Hayal  (Phantasy)  Djin-''^ 
grakli-Tatar  (Courrier  with  Bells),  and  Diogenes,  being 
the  most  prominent.  They  were  ably  edited,  and  could 
make  with  their  indirect  allusions,  a  more  effective  opposi- 
tion against  the  abuses  of  the  government  than  the  political 
papers.  Like  these  satirical  papers,  most  of  the  political 
papers  were  also  mainly  tools  at  the  hands  of  men  with 
advanced  ideas  for  shaping  public  opinion.  They  repre- 
sented the  tendencies  among  the  minority,  but  hardly  the  ^ 
response  of  the  majority  to  the  course  of  change  taking 
place  in  different  branches  of  the  Turkish  life.  The  main 
reason  for  this  consisted  in  the  fact  that  the  religious  fana- 
tics, averse  to  change,  had  not  the  means  and  the  necessary  •- 


46     THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  MODERN  TURKEY         [46 

training  for  publishing  papers.     They  could  not  even  use 
the   pulpit    for    checking   the    process    of    modernization. 

^  Sultan  Abdul  Aziz  did  not  permit  religion  to  be  made  a 
pretext  for  interfering  with  his  or  other  people's  behavior. 
He  offered  a  unique  spectacle  of  an  absolute  and  misruling 
Sultan  in  Turkey,  who  did  not  use  religious  fanaticism  to 
consolidate  his  position  against  the  opposing  radical  ele- 
ments and  who  did  not  take  any  notice  of  religious  pre- 
judice.    The  result  was  twofold:  the  fanatical  elements 

^''  forgot  the  Young  Turks  and  their  dislike  for  them,  and  con- 
centrated their  attention  against  the  person  of  the  Sultan 

^  and  the  easy  life  at  his  palace.     The  Young  Turkish  writers 

^thus  found  opportunity  to  deal  freely  with  social  problems 
and  advocate  the  changes  that  they  saw  necessary.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  common  hostility  against  the  Sultan,  al- 
though emanating  from  unlike  sources,  brought  the  fana- 

v/tics  to  the  point  of  allying  themselves  with  the  Young 
Turks  for  the  purpose  of  common  action.  In  1876,  when 
Sultan  Abdul  Aziz  was  dethroned,  the  most  radical  Young 

^  Turks  and  the  most  fanatical  theological  students  alike  had 
a  share  in  the  conspiracy. 

The  only  attempt  to  expound  the  views  of  the  old  Turks, 
was  made  by  the  daily  Bassirett  (Watchfulness).  For 
some  time,  the  Bassirett  had  a  reactionary  policy,  conceal- 
ing rather  than  exposing  the  existing  evils.  But  the  at- 
mosphere was  so  full  of  militancy,  that  it  could  not  resist 
the  trend  of  the  times  very  long.   More  and  more,  it  began  to 

^/  draw  attention  to  the  achievements  of  Western  nations  and 
to  the  shortcomings  at  home,  but  it  still  remained  conserva- 
tive in  tone,  and  displayed  outbursts  of  fanaticism  and 
ignorance  on  many  occasions.  It  had  the  largest  circula- 
tion among  the  papers  of  the  time,  and  was  financially  a 
success.  It  is  remarkable  that  the  popular  tradition  claims 
for  it  a  circulation  of  thirty  thousand.     There  is  not  the 


47]  THE  ERA  OF  GENESIS  47 

slightest  possibility  that  a  Turkish  daily  published  before 
1876  had  even  one-third  of  that  circulation,  but,  in  later 
years,  under  Abdul  Hamid's  government,  the  press  was  so 
much  oppressed  that  the  people  were  naturally  inclined  to 
look  back  to  former  times  through  a  magnifying  glass. 

It  must  be  remembered,  however,  that  a  circulation  of  a 
few  thousands  had  in  that  period,  when  the  old  Turkish 
social  life  had  not  quite  begun  to  disintegrate,  a  greater 
importance  than  a  much  larger  circulation  to-day.  A  single 
copy  could  reach  a  great  many  more  people  through  the 
medium  of  the  coffee  house  and  through  the  evening  gather- 
ings of  neighbors  in  the  different  houses  of  the  neighbor- 
hood. Besides,  most  of  the  readers  carefully  kept  and  col- 
lected one  or  more  papers.  As  only  a  select  class  could 
read  and  write,  the  readers  were  also  relatively  intelligent 
and  appreciative.  When  Istikbal  (The  Future),  one  of  the 
dailies,  published  in  its  number  of  June  24,  1876,  an  article 
of  thanks  and  praise  for  Sir  Henry  Elliot,  the  British 
Ambassador,  generally  known  in  Turkey  as  a  warm  friend 
of  the  Turks,  and  as  a  believer  in  Turkey's  national  future, 
the  regular  supply  of  the  paper  was  soon  exhausted,  and  the 
article  had  to  be  published  again  and  again,  "  in  order  to 
give  every  son  of  the  fatherland  opportunity  to  acquire  a 
copy  of  it." 

Up  until  1876,  the  uniform  price  of  papers  was  one 
piaster  (four  cents)  per  copy,  and  from  ten  to  fifteen  dol- 
lars for  yearly  subscriptions.  Most  of  the  papers  after 
1 87 1,  owned  their  printing  presses. 

The  journalists  as  a  class  were  distinguished  more  by 
their  wild  night-life  than  by  anything  else.  They  consid- 
ered themselves  justified  in  drinking  to  excess,  as  they  had 
to  fulfill  a  delicate  task,  and  were  every  moment  exposed 
to  the  danger  of  exile  or  prison.  They  were  also  poorly 
paid.     Still  the  calling  was  very  attractive  to  adventurous 


48  THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  MODERN  TURKEY  [48 

natures  and  many  were  glad  to  volunteer  their  services, 
without  expecting  any  pay  in  return.  What  is  more,  the 
Hadika  (1870)  announced  in  all  its  issues,  that  manuscripts 
on  science  and  art  sent  in  by  people  of  education  might  be 
published  gratuitously. 

y'  The  main  feature  of  the  papers  was  the  editorial  article. 
News,  for  its  own  sake  was  not  published  unless  it  con- 
cerned the  public  life  in  its  most  general  aspect  or  the  poli- 
tical conditions  and  diplomatic  relations  of  other  countries. 
Provincial  and  city  news  items  were  published  only  when 
they  could  be  used  for  a  warning  or  a  moral  hint.  There  was 

u  a  great  difference,  however,  between  the  paper  of  1870  and 
1876  in  this  regard.  The  course  of  development  led  to  the 
concentration  of  attention  from  far-off  countries  and  con- 
ditions to  the  more  and  more  immediate  environment.  With 
occasional  exceptions,  the  advertisements  related  to  new 
books. 

Going  through  the  copies  of  the  papers  of  this  period, 
/one  cannot  help  being  impressed  by  the  general  anxiety  for 
survival  as  a  nation.  This  was  expressed  in  regard  to  mat- 
ters of  external  safety,  as  well  as  with  reference  to  problems 
like  decreasing  population  and  infanticide.  The  Istikbal 
had  this  motto:  "The  body  of  the  Fatherland  is  a  united 
whole.  Under  no  pretext  can  it  be  divided."  The  Bassirett, 
in  1875,  made  a  vigorous  campaign  regarding  the  decrease 
of  population,  under  the  headline,  "  The  Nation  is  Becom- 
ing Wrecked."  It  pointed  out  that  owing  to  the  military 
service,  to  the  lack  of  hygienic  knowledge,  and  to  the  spread 

V  of  infanticide  the  population  was  decreasing  with  tremend- 
ous rapidity,  and  whole  villages  were  disappearing  one  after 

^  the  other  in  the  region  inhabited  by  the  Turkish  element. 
This  problem  of  population  was  dealt  with  from  time  to 

"  time  by  all  papers,  and  the  government  was  urged  to  take 
speedy  action.     Contrary  to  the  prevailing  idea  of  former 


49]  THE  ERA  OF  GENESIS  49 

times,  when  almost  the  entire  Turkish  population  was  con- 
fident of  its  superiority  over  all  others  and  attributed  its 
misfortune  to  fate  or  heavenly  punishment,  the  press  spurred 
by  imminent  dangers,  spoke  again  and  again  of  the  national 
inferiority  in  economic  enterprise,  in  education,  in  habits,  in 
organization. 

The  change  was  a  tremendous  one.  Owing  mainly  to 
the  press,  in  the  last  instance,  the  sleeping,  self-satisfied 
mediaeval  community  had  become  within  two  or  three  de- 
cades a  self-conscious,  self -critical  and  potentially  progres- 
sive one.  The  old  written  language  which  served  for 
creating  ornamental  phrases  and  forms,  but  not  for  ex- 
pressing simple  ideas,  gave  way  to  a  practical  medium  for 
expressing  thought;  the  old  individualistic  struggle  of  the 
preceding  period  for  self-interest  was  superseded  by  pub- 
lic spirit. 

The  day  came,  when,  inflamed  by  the  suicidal  policy  of 
the  government,  the  public  felt  strong  enough  to  assert 
its  will  and  to  demand  through  imposing  street  demon- 
strations, the  removal  from  office  of  all  corrupt  officials. 
Sultan  Abdul  Aziz  was  a  weak  man  and  open  to  every  kind 
of  suggestion.  He  yielded  without  resistance,  but  this  sur- 
render did  not  save  his  throne  as  he  hoped.  The  first  act 
of  the  new  government  was  to  obtain  a  fatva  ^  from  the 
Sheikh-ul-Islam,  Hairroullah  Effendi  to  dethrone  him  on 
a  charge  of  misrule. 

Every  obstacle  that  had  stood  in  the  way  of  a  good  and 
honest  government,  and  of  the  application  of  reforms 
seemed  now  to  have  been  removed.  A  new  era  seemed  to 
have  dawned  suddenly,  and  Young  Turkey  believed  that  she 
had  finally  triumphed. 

It  is  of  interest  to  note  that  the  conservative  Bassirett 

1  The  word  explained  on  page  23. 


v^ 


^ 


y 


50  THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  MODERN  TURKEY         [50 

went  further  than  the  other  papers  in  celebrating  the  event. 
A  few  hours  after  the  dethronement  a  gratuitous  number 
of  the  Bassirett  was  distributed  in  the  streets  of  Con- 
stantinople. It  announced  in  frenetic  terms  that  "  the  na- 
tion had  at  last  got  rid  of  the  despot  and  of  General  Igna- 
tieff  ".  The  Russian  ambassador  who  had  only  a  few  days 
previously,  caused  the  Levant  Herald  to  be  persecuted  for 
a  disrespectful  allusion  to  his  person,  refrained  from  tak- 
ing steps  against  the  Bassirett. 

The  new  Sultan,  Mourad  V,  possessed  a  very  good  and 
kind  disposition.  Having  been  kept  in  seclusion  as  a  Prince 
by  Abdul  Aziz,  his  uncle,  he  had  used  his  time  to  advantage 
in  learning  French  and  in  acquiring  Western  knowledge. 
Under  his  rule,  the  Young  Turks  had  perfect  control  of 
the  situation.  All  the  exiled  journalists  were  recalled,  and 
the  press  began  a  new  and  unchecked  activity.  The  gov- 
ernment was  occupied  in  drafting  a  liberal  constitution, 
and  in  dealing  with  the  grave  internal  troubles  and  the 
danger  of  intervention. 

Meanwhile,  an  event  took  place,  which  proved  of  fatal 
consequence  in  more  than  one  way.  A  few  days  after  the 
dethronement,  the  deposed  Sultan  was  found  dead  in  his 
room.  In  all  probability  he  had  ended  his  own  life,  but 
it  was  pretended  for  political  purposes,  that  he  had  been 
murdered.  The  new  Sultan  was  so  deeply  shocked  by  the 
tragic  death  of  his  uncle,  that  he  soon  began  to  show  signs 
of  mental  disorder.  Only  three  months  after  his  accession 
another  fatva  dethroned  him  on  the  ground  of  insanity. 

Before  taking  this  step,  the  leaders  of  the  reform  party 
had  obtained  from  the  Prince  Abdul  Hamid,  the  next  heir 
to  the  throne,  specific  pledges  as  to  his  future  rule.  The 
Prince  appeared  to  be  even  more  liberal  than  the  Young 
Turks  themselves,  and  promised  more  than  he  was  asked  for. 
Among  other  things,  he  pledged  himself  to  proclaim  imme- 


51  ]  THE  ERA  OF  GENESIS  5 1 

diately  a  constitution,  to  appoint  two  of  the  most  advanced 
young  Turkish  journalists  his  secretaries  and  to  choose  only 
Young  Turks  for  high  positions  in  the  palace.  Upon  this 
basis  he  was  allowed  to  ascend  the  throne,  on  September 
I,  1876,  as  Sultan  Abdul  Hamid  II,  to  the  terror  and  dis-' 
appointment  of  nearly  every  section  of  the  population. 
Abdul  Hamid  was  unpopular  to  the  same  extent  as  his 
brother  was  beloved.  Even  those  papers  which  were  al- 
ways on  the  side  of  authority  and  the  ruling  government, 
abstained  from  welcoming  the  new  sovereign.  On  the  day 
of  his  accession  to  the  throne,  they  merely  gave  expression 
to  their  sorrow  for  the  fate  of  Sultan  Mourad.  In  order  to 
quiet  the  public  mind,  the  semi-official  Djeride-i^Havadis 
pointed  out  that  Sultan  Abdul  Hamid  had  lived  for  long 
years  in  the  same  palace  with  Sultan  Mourad,  and  that  he 
was  very  likely  to  have  been  influenced  by  his  brother's 
good  character  and  broad  knowledge.  The  only  guarantee 
the  people  had  that  the  unpopular  man  would  not  turn  out 
to  be  a  dangerous  despot  consisted  of  his  pledges.  The 
Young  Turks  were  not  long  in  finding  out  for  themselves, 
that  pledges  did  not  mean  much,  when  a  strong  Sultan  did 
not  intend  to  keep  them. 


CHAPTER  IV 
The  Hamidian  Period 

The  history  of  Turkey  between  1876  and  1908  is,  in  every 
respect  a  Hamidian  one.  Every  branch  of  life  and  of  activity 
in  that  period  was,  in  some  way  or  other,  influenced  by  the 
strong  will  and  evil  genius  of  a  single  man:  Sultan  Abdul 
Hamid.  For  him,  there  existed  but  one  consideration  and 
that  was  the  absolute  maintenance  of  his  safety  and  personal 
power.  Outside  of  that,  everything  in  his  eyes  was  an 
exciting  game  which  he  took  delight  in  playing  against  a 
large  number,  of  adversaries,  mostly  patriots  and  idealists, 
who  were  by  far  inferior  to  him  in  cunning.  Every  trick, 
every  seeming  compromise,  he  allowed  to  himself  in  the 
game,  the  point  was  to  win,  to  win  by  all  means. 

When  he  ascended  the  throne,  he  found  himself  entirely 
set  aside  by  those  whom  he  considered  secretly  his  enemies 
in  the  coming  contest.  The  Young  Turks,  self-confident 
through  the  easy  dethronement  of  two  Sultans  within  three 
months,  considered  him  a  mere  tool  in  their  hands.  The 
press  felt  itself  above  him  and  gave  over-emphasis  to  this 
feeling  of  superiority.  The  Vakit  (Time)  stated  on  every 
occasion  that  the  real  sovereignity  rested  with  the  people 
and  that  they  could  depose  their  Sultan  whenever  they  chose 
to  do  so.  The  Istikbal  (Future)  reminded  the  people  again 
and  again  that  the  constitution  was  not  a  gift  of  the  sover- 
eign, but  was  obtained  by  a  group  of  patriots  after  a  hard 
struggle.  The  Ittihad  (Unity)  pointed  out  in  its  number 
of  November  i,  1879,  that  the  people  could  no  longer  be 
52  [52 


53]  THE  HAMIDIAN  PERIOD  53 

satisfied  by  paper  measures,  that  practical  activity  ought  to 
begin  at  last  to  strengthen  the  sovereign  rights  of  the  people, 
Zia  Bey,  one  of  the  most  influential  journalists  and  the  one 
most  dreaded  by  the  Sultan,  said,  addressing  an  audience 
of  secondary  school  students,  that  a  Sultan  was  "  only  the 
chief  servant  of  the  people." 

The  response  of  a  strong,  ambitious  and  evil-intentioned 
man  like  Abdul  Hamid  to  such  a  situation  could  not  but  be 
an  attitude  of  bitter  hostility,  and  a  desperate  struggle  for 
power.     He  was  too  clever,  however,  to  take  any  rash  steps. 

He  clearly  saw  that  to  appoint  Young  Turks  as  palace 
secretaries  and  dignitaries  as  he  had  pledged  himself  to  do, 
would  curb  every  possibility  of  rising  to  absolute  power. 
He,  accordingly,  broke  his  word  and  formed  a  palace 
camarilla  from  the  most  noted  reactionaries. 

He  understood  perfectly,  that  absolute  power  could  not 
go  hand  in  hand  with  a  free  and  vigorously  edited  press, 
such  as  the  one  the  new  era  had  suddenly  produced.  The 
Young  Turkish  press  had,  in  fact,  thrown  the  few  con- 
servative papers  out  of  the  field  and  had  worked  wonders 
among  the  people  within  a  few  months.  It  had  given  the 
readers  a  new  sort  of  national  enthusiasm,  it  had  taught 
them  that  they  had  rights  which  arbitrary  sovereigns  had 
withheld  from  them,  and  that  a  democratic  constitution 
based  upon  the  idea  of  the  rights  of  all  Ottomans  without 
distinction  of  race  and  creed  would  immediately  cure  and 
reform  everything.  Many  of  the  religious  dignitaries  and 
theological  students  were  believers  in  this  panacea,  and  had 
become  strong  supporters  of  Midhat  Pasha,  the  great  states- 
man and  national  leader.  The  leading  journalist  Zia  Bey 
was  almost  worshiped  by  the  whole  capital. 

The  Sultan  was  more  than  alarmed  by  this  state  of  af- 
fairs. He  always  read  the  papers  with  great  care,  and 
often  sent  extracts  of  articles  that  he  was  not  pleased  with, 


54  THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  MODERN  TURKEY  [54 

to  the  Sublime  Porte,  dictating  the  action  to  be  taken  against 
those  concerned.  The  correspondence  between  the  palace 
and  the  Grand- Vezir  Midhat  Pasha,  published  by  Ali  Hai- 
dar  Midhat  Bey  ^  throws  a  great  deal  of  light  on  the  dread 
Abdul  Hamid  entertained  for  the  press.  All  his  communi- 
cations ended  with  phrases  such  as :  "  His  majesty  considers 
it  urgent  to  find  means  to  put  an  end  to  such  doings  in  the 
press,"  or  "If  such  acts  are  tolerated,  the  papers  will  not 
fail  to  profit  by  the  license,  and  abuse  it.  His  Majesty 
orders  that  the  imperial  commands  issued  against  certain 
of  the  papers  shall  be  executed  as  soon  as  possible  by  way 
of  example." 

Midhat  Pasha,  the  Grand- Vezir,  being  an  ardent  supporter 
of  a  free  press,  Abdul  Hamid  was  not  long  in  coming  to 
the  conclusion  that  decisive  steps  had  to  be  taken  in  doing 
away  with  the  Young  Turkish  supremacy,  before  it  ac- 
quired an  unassailable  position.     On  the  one  hand,  he  tried 

^  to  prevent  the  publication  of  telegrams  from  the  provinces 
expressing  enthusiasm  regarding  the  impending  proclama- 
tion of  the  constitution;  on  the  other  hand,  he  began  to 
apply  his  skillful  tactics  to  oust  the  leaders.     The  new 

u-  spirit  in  Turkey  had  no  natural  foundation.  It  was  only 
upheld  by  influential  and  enlightened  leaders,  supported  by 
the  pressure  of  circumstances.  With  these  leaders  elimin- 
ated and  the  press  subdued,  the  country  which  was  under 
a  cross  fire  from  external  dangers  and  internal  unrest  and 
dissatisfaction,  could  become  an  easy  prey  to  an  absolute 
ruler.     Besides,  the  plans  of  the  Young  Turks  to  separate 

.  the  secular  and  religious  powers,  and  to  create  a  new  and 
neutral  national  type  of  "  Ottoman  ",  who  should  have  equal 
rights  of  citizenship  without  distinction  of  race  or  color  or 
creed,  had  produced  a  great  deal  of  irritation  among  some 

»/*  Life  of  Midhat  Pasha  (London,  1903),  PP-  122-127. 


55]  THE  HAMIDIAN  PERIOD  55 

sections  of  the  population.  The  Bassirett,  to  some  extent, 
gave  utterance  to  their  feelings.  Some  of  the  people  at- 
tempted to  cause  agitation  by  preaching  and  by  distributing 
secret  literature. 

The  popular  journalist,  Zia  Bey  ^  was  the  first  man  to 
be  removed.  According  to  the  policy,  applied  as  far  as 
possible  by  the  Sultan  against  his  political  opponents,  he  t^ 
was  invested  with  the  highest  honors  and  titles.  As  the 
population  of  Constantinople  attempted  to  keep  their  favor- 
ite among  themselves  by  electing  him  for  deputy,  he  was 
hastily  removed  from  Constantinople  as  the  General  Gov-  "" 
ernor  of  Syria. 

In  the  meantime,  the  dream  cherished  for  decades  by  the 
Young  Turks  seemed  to  have  been  realized.  On  December 
23,  1876,  a  liberal  constitution  was  proclaimed  with  great 
pomp,  to  the  general  delight  of  most  of  the  elements  of  the 
population,  and  to  the  stupefaction  of  the  international 
conference,  sitting  at  Constantinople  to  decide  the  future 
status  of  some  parts  of  European  Turkey. 

The  enthusiasm  and  surprise  were  not  to  last  very  long, 
however.  On  February  4,  1877,  Midhat  Pasha,  the  father 
of  the  constitutional  movement,  was  taken  from  his  house 
w^ithout  any  previous  notice  and  escorted  on  board  the 
imperial  yacht  Izziddin  to  be  carried  away  from  Tur- 
key to  some  European  port.     Up  to  the  last  moment,  the 

*  Zia  Bey  was  born  in  Constantinople  in  1829,  the  son  of  a  clerk  of 
the  Galata  Custom  House.  He  had  a  brilliant  career  as  a  journalist,  w 
poet,  educator  and  political  agitator.  He  died  in  1880  in  Adana,  sick  . 
and  broken-hearted  at  what  he  deemed  the  failure  of  his  life-work. 
The  degree  of  his  disappointment  is  expressed  in  the  following  utter- 
ance, translated  into  English  by  Mr.  Gibb  (History  of  Ottoman  Poetry, 
vol.  V,  p.  69)  : 

"  Naught  but  sorrows,  on  the  loyal  to  this  Empire  ever  wait ; 
Sheerest  madness  is  devotion  to  this  People  and  this  State." 


56  THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  MODERN  TURKEY  [56 

Sultan  was  not  sure  that  he  might  so  easily  rid  himself  of 

the  popular  leader.     The  captain  of  the  yacht  was  ordered 

v^  to  halt  near  Constantinople  for  a  day,  and  bring  Midhat 

Pasha  back  immediately  in  the  event  of  a  popular  outbreak. 

The  blow  was  so  sudden  that  everybody  was  taken  by 
surprise,  and  no  concerted  action  could  take  place  in  the 
city  guarded  by  military  force. 

Then  came  the  war  of  1877-78  with  Russia.  The  situ- 
ation caused  by  the  war,  was  of  course,  a  great  advantage 
to  the  purpose  and  policy  of  Abdul  Hamid.  The  attention 
of  the  people  and  the  press  was  centered  on  external 
danger.  The  Young  Turkish  press  itself,  unaware  of  the 
approaching  peril,  had  frequently  advocated  the  war.  In  the 
t/  excitement  of  patriotism,  all  the  noble  watchwords  of  the 
French  Revolution  were  forgotten.  The  dissolution  of  the 
^  Parliament  by  the  Sultan  attracted  little  attention.  Midhat 
Pasha,  in  London,  had  to  be  a  helpless  spectator  of  the 
crumbling  of  his  life-work,  had  to  see  how  Russia,  after 
having  crippled  Turkey  internally  by  secret  intrigues,  tried 
openly  to  administer  to  her  a  final  and  fatal  blow. 

During  the  progress  of  the  war,  all  the  foundations  were 
^  laid  for  the  despotic  system  which  was  to  dominate  Turkey 
for  several  decades.  The  palace  and  the  Sultan  became  the 
center  of  all  public  activity.  Even  the  operations  of  the 
t/  campaign  were  directed  by  the  Sultan  himself,  a  fact  which 
explains  why  Turkey  was  so  badly  beaten  after  having  been 
so  successful  in  the  beginning.  His  desire  to  attend  per- 
sonally to  every  detail  of  governmental  business  ^  was  the 
main  concern  of  his  life,  after  his  anxiety  for  the  safety 
of  his  throne. 

The  press  had  a  special  place  in  the  Sultan's  daily  ac- 

^Gabriel  Charmes,  UAvenir  de  La  Turque,  Paris,  1883,  gives  an  in- 
V  teresting  and  almost  prophetic  account  of  the  life  and  of  the  future 
designs  of  the  Sultan. 


57]  THE  HAMIDIAN  PERIOD  57 

tivity.  He  read  all  the  papers  and  took  immediate  action  j 
where  he  deemed  it  necessary.  He  kept  on  banishing  the 
incorrigible  idealists,  some  others  he  bought  with  money, 
titles  and  honors,  and  he  appealed  to  the  religious  and  ^ 
patriotic  feelings  of  the  fanatical  and  unenlightened  ones. 
As  a  result,  the  militant  and  vigorous  press  was  reduced 
within  one  year  to  a  ready  tool  at  the  Sultan's  hands.  The 
stamp  duty  was  continued  as  a  general  measure,  making  it 
almost  impossible  for  independent  papers  to  exist,  while  the 
papers  proving  their  submission  and  devotion  were  richly 
subventioned  and  rewarded. 

By  1877,  many  of  the  papers  had  two  different  styles  of 
language.  The  one  was  the  new  Turkish,  simplified  by  the  ^ 
Young  Turkish  writers.  It  was  used  in  relation  to  every- 
thing but  matters  regarding  the  person  or  the  government 
of  the  Sultan.  For  such  purposes  the  old  forms  and  pom- 
pous phrases  were  used.  These  were  taken  both  by  the 
writer  and  the  reader  as  matters  of  mere  formality.  The 
way  in  which  the  Mussavat  (Equality)  of  August  11,  1877 
announced  the  news  that  the  Sultan  had  ordered  one  of  his 
private  yachts  to  be  equipped  with  cannon,  and  used  as  an 
auxiliary  warship,  may  serve  here  as  an  illustration : 

His  imperial  Majesty,  whose  person  abounds  in  sacred  quali- 
ties and  whose  chief  imperial  desires  are  directed  to  the  end  of 
raising  the  necessaries  of  war  to  the  most  supreme  degree  of 
perfection  in  order  to  safeguard  the  sacred  rights  of  His  Sub- 
lime Empire,  has  made  to  the  many  acts  and  efforts,  he,  as  our 
great  and  sublime  benefactor,  has  been  putting  forth  since  the 
beginning  of  the  present  war,  for  bringing  the  military  equip- 
ment up  to  a  degree  satisfactory  to  his  august  mind,  one  more 
addition,  in  deigning  to  issue  an  imperial  order  (the  orders  of 
the  august  holder  of  the  Crown  are  always  full  of  kindness 
and  generosity)  to  the  effect  that  the  imperial  yacht,  called 
"  Stamboul ",  which  is  in  the  personal  service  of  our  august 


58  THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  MODERN  TURKEY         [58 

Majesty,  whose  person  abounds  in  lofty  qualities,  should  be 
equipped  with  cannon  and  be  added  to  the  imperial  navy. 
Measures  to  this  effect  have  been  taken  accordingly. 

During  the  war,  the  contents  of  the  papers  mainly  con- 
sisted of  official  communications  concerning  the  military 
situation,  of  translations  from  foreign  papers  regarding  the 
diplomatic  situation,  and  of  occasional  articles.  These 
articles  dealt  mostly  with  the  refutation  of  certain  publica- 
tions in  the  Russian  press,  or  with  patriotic  appeals  to  the 
people  in  connection  with  the  war.  The  main  motive  which 
found  expression  in  such  appeals  was  the  desire  for  recogni- 
tion by  the  Western  world.  "  Europe  is  looking  at  us. 
The  Ottomans  must  show  their  traditional  patriotism  and 
bravery,"  was  the  usual  conclusion  of  patriotic  articles. 
The  papers  were  very  sensitive  regarding  atrocity  charges, 
and  they  showed  great  zeal  in  refuting  such  allegations,  and 
in  condemning  the  Russians  on  the  same  score.  The  in- 
different attitude  of  European  powers,  particularly  England, 
was  often  criticized.  The  Mussavat  (Equality),  stated  in 
its  number  of  August  13,  1877,  that  "  Europe  by  its  indif- 
ferent attitude  had  blackened  the  pages  of  the  history  of 
humanity  and  civilization  and  it  was  for  the  Ottomans  to 
clean  and  glorify  those  pages  again  by  driving  back,  single- 
handed,  the  invading  enemy." 

The  spirit  of  awakening  and  self -consciousness  of  the 

I-  press  of  a  few  years  previous  had  thus  given  way  to  a  na'ive 
self-deception.  This  was  more  markedly  shown  later  in 
connection  with  the  Tunisian  question.  The  Vakit  (Time), 
criticizing  the  decision  of  the  government  in  sending  a  fleet 
to  Tunisian  waters  to  remonstrate  against  the  French  occu- 
pation said :  "  This  is  hardly  necessary,  the  despatch  of  a 
single  row-boat  would  be  enough  to  arouse  the  population 
of  North  Africa  and  to  have  the  French  army  thrown  back 

J    into  the  sea."     As  a  consequence,  the  people  lost  interest 


59]  THE  HAMIDIAN  PERIOD  59 

in  the  papers,  the  old  prestige  of  the  press  vanished,  until 
the  papers  themselves  became  aware  of  their  inefficiency. 

In  August  1877,  the  Terjuman-i-Efkiar  (Interpreter  of 
Ideas),  a  paper  printed  in  Armenian  characters  and  in  the 
Turkish  language,  published  an  article  pointing  out  that  the 
Turkish  press  had  no  prestige  abroad,  and  no  influence 
among  its  readers,  that  it  was  ridiculed  by  the  press  of  other 
countries,  never  being  taken  seriously  or  quoted  by  them. 
The  conclusion  stated  that  the  Ottoman  press  deserved  such 
treatment,  as  it  had  no  intrinsic  value,  and  that  it  would 
have  to  raise  its  quality  in  order  to  become  more  effective. 
This  article  was  quoted  by  all  the  papers,  and  all  of  them 
sadly  acknowledged  that  the  statements  were  correct.  The 
Umran  (Upheaval)  which  began  to  be  published  on  August 
31,  1877,  contains  in  its  fourth  number,  a  letter  from  a 
reader  who  expresses  his  dissatisfaction  at  the  state  of  the 
press,  reminding  the  journalists  "  that  the  press  cannot  only 
cause  the  progress  of  a  country,  as  often  stated,  but  can 
also  bring  about  its  ruin  and  destruction,  if  managed  by 
short-sighted  and  favor-seeking  men." 

After  the  war,  many  of  the  papers  were  in  great  financial  ^ 
distress.  Several  of  them  had  to  suspend  their  publication. 
The  ''OsmanW  which  attempted  to  transform  itself  into  a 
satirical  publication  was  notified  by  the  government,  that 
publications  of  that  type  could  no  longer  be  tolerated.  Re- 
peated attempts  were  made  to  induce  the  government  to 
abolish  the  stamp  tax,  but  they  were  not  of  any  avail. 

After  having  subdued  the  press  and  become  master  of 
the  whole  situation,  the  main  concern  of  Abdul  Hamid,  •- 
was  the  existence  of  Midhat  Pasha,  the  great  liberal  leader. 
During  his  sojourn  in  Europe,  Midhat  had  received  so  much 
attention  and  esteem  from  people  and  governments  alike, 
that  Abdul  Hamid  felt  it  to  be  dangerous  to  permit  his 
most  dreaded  opponent  to  live  outside  the  sphere  of  his  in- 


6o  THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  MODERN  TURKEY         [60 

fluence.  In  1879,  he  was  appointed  Governor  of  Syria, 
and  later  Governor  of  Smyrna.  His  persecution  had  only 
increased  his  popularity  everywhere.  His  very  existence 
became  a  danger  in  the  eyes  of  the  Sultan.  Repeated  at- 
tempts to  murder  and  poison  him  having  failed,  he  was 
openly  accused  of  having  taken  part  in  the  "  murder  "of 
the  deposed  Sultan  Abdul  Aziz,  who,  according  to  all  evi- 
dence, had  committed  suicide.  He  was  condemned  to  death 
after  a  sham  trial  in  1881.  Thanks  to  the  intervention  of 
the  British  ambassador,  the  death  sentence  was  changed  into 
one  of  life  imprisonment  in  Taif,  Arabia.     He  was  sent 

,  there  with  a  large  number  of  other  statesmen  and  liberals, 
Avhere  he  and  one  of  his  companions  were  strangled  in  1883. 
Zia  Pasha,  the  famous  journalist,  had  previously  died  in 
1880  in  Adana,  not  being  able  to  survive  for  any  length  of 
time  the  failure  of  his  work.  Kemal  Bey,  the  great  writer 
who  had  also  been  kept  away  from  Constantinople  as  Gov- 
ernor of  Mitylene  and  Gallipoli,  followed  him  in  1887.  ^^ 
group  of  journalists  and  enlightened  young  men  of  other 

^  professions,  perished  while  making  a  desperate  attempt 
under  the  leadership  of  the  popular  journalist  Ali  Souavi, 
to  free  and  restore  the  deposed  Sultan  Mourad  V.  This 
took  place  in  1878  after  the  Treaty  of  San  Stefano  was  con- 
cluded, and  agitation  was  being  miade  by  England  for  the 
assembly  of  the  Congress  of  Berlin.  According  to  Yorga  ^ 
the  Young  Turkish  agitation  was  one  of  the  reasons  which 
induced  Russia  to  agree  to  the  idea  of  a  revisionary 
congress. 

The  Young  Turkish  downfall  meant  the  final  defeat  of 
the  idea  of  secularizing  the  state  and  of  unifying  all  the 

^  citizens  upon  a  national  basis  as  Ottomans.  It  meant  the 
end  of  an  open  struggle  for  betterment.     To  what  extent 

*  Yorga,  Geschichte  des  Osmanischen  Reiches,  vol.  v,  p.  591. 


6l]  THE  HAMIDIAN  PERIOD  6i 

this  struggle  would  have  been  successful,  had  it  not  been 
opposed  by  a  strong  man  like  Abdul  Hamid  can  hardly 
be  surmised.  Midhat  Pasha's  rapid  and  marvelous  suc- 
cess in  the  most  disturbed  of  Provinces,  to  w^hich  he  went 
as  Governor,  proved  that  a  strong,  resourceful  and  honest  ^ 
leader  could  work  wonders  in  Turkey.  The  increase  of 
Ottoman  patriotism  among  the  non-Turks  and  the  changing 
attitude  among  the  Turks  themselves  showed  that  systematic 
effort  could  within  a  comparatively  short  time,  at  least  for 
the  purposes  of  practical  politics,  substitute  for  the  group 
based  upon  blood  or  religious  relationship,  a  social  system  u^ 
based  upon  civic  principles.  The  population  could  be  ^ 
moulded.  There  was  no  half -educated  turbulent  element  to  u- 
interfere  seriously  with  the  activity  of  the  leaders.  They 
were  far  above  the  group  type  and  had  come  in  contact  with 
the  scientific  spirit  and  energy  of  the  industrial  countries 
of  the  West,  while  the  great  mass  of  the  population  lived  in 
isolation  and  had  to  depend  upon  the  accepted  knowledge 
and  economic  equipment  of  the  middle  ages  for  their  mental 
and  material  existence.  On  the  other  hand,  those  who 
know  the  character  and  extent  of  Russian  secret  intrigues 
and  open  policy,  may  rightly  doubt  whether  Turkey  would 
have  been  able  to  progress  in  a  normal  way,  even  if  a  per- 
sonality like  Abdul  Hamid  had  not  appeared  on  the  stage  of 
of  her  history,  and  other  conditions  besides  had  been  favor- 
able. It  may  even  be  argued  that  the  personality  and  system 
of  Abdul  Hamid  were  to  a  great  extent  of  Russian  creation. 
Not  only  was  the  Sultan  guided  by  Russian  example,  but  the 
threatening  atmosphere  of  external  dangers  resulting  from 
the  Russian  policy  also  backed  him  in  his  despotic  moves. 

The  policy  of  the  Sultan  was  not  to  save  and  cure  through 
an  open  struggle  as  the  Young  Turkish  policy  was,  it  was 
rather  to  divide  and  keep  all  dangerous  elements  in  opposi-  ^ 
tion  to  each  other  with  a  view  to  maintain  the  situation  as  it 


62  THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  MODERN  TURKEY         [62 

was.  His  most  formidable  weapon  was  religion.  He  re- 
sorted to  every  possible  trick  to  gain  prestige  as  a  religious 
lord  among  the  fanatical  masses  and  in  the  Mohammedan 
world.  He  succeeded,  more  and  more,  in  arousing  the  sus- 
V  ceptibilities  of  the  masses  against  the  educated  classes,  and  in 
making  the  ignorant  look  with  contempt  upon  the  educated. 
For  instance,  the  dress  and  manners  of  women  were  often 
used  to  arouse  fanaticism  and  to  please  the  fanatics.  The 
^  women  had  acquired  a  great  deal  of  liberty  under  the  reign 
of  the  former  Sultan.  They  had  become  less  careful  re- 
garding veiling  and  more  unrestricted  in  going  about  as  they 
chose.  It  was  very  easy  to  take  advantage  of  this  situ- 
ation to  please  the  masses.  The  Wakit  (Times)  of  June 
12,  1 88 1,  published  an  official  announcement  regarding  the 
dress  and  the  public  manners  of  women.  In  this  it  was 
stated  that  "  some  women  were  seen  in  the  streets  and  in 
public  places  dressed  in  ways  contrary  to  the  local  customs 
and  Mohammedan  traditions,  thereby  causing  contempt  and 
hatred  among  people  of  honesty,  and  that  His  imperial 
Majesty,  our  august  lord  and  Sultan,  our  great  benefactor 
to  whom  our  gratitude  should  have  no  limits,  the  sublime 
protector  of  religion  and  morality  and  corroborator  of  man- 
ners and  customs,  was  deeply  grieved  in  his  imperial  heart 
about  this  state  of  affairs."  The  women  were  then  warned 
to  keep  within  the  ancient  limits  and  to  be  orderly. 

In  spite  of  the  religious  zeal  of  the  Sultan  and  his  build- 
/  ing  within  a  few  years  a  form  of  theocracy  without  equal  in 
Turkish  history,  the  religious  teachers  and  theological  stu- 
dents as  a  class  were  held  under  more  restricted  control 
than  other  classes  of  people.  The  Sultan  knew  perfectly 
well  that  the  religion  which  he  was  making  use  of  so  suc- 
cessfully could  be  used  against  himself.  Any  kind  of  con- 
certed action  among  the  theological  students,  the  Sultan 


63]  THE  HAM  ID  I  AN  PERIOD  63 

most  dreaded  and  tried  to  prevent  by  his  favor,  spy,  and 
secret  "  elimination  "  system. 

The  more  this  system  was  crystallized,  the  more  circum- 
scribed became  the  position  of  the  press.  In  the  beginning, 
these  restrictions  had  one  advantage;  they  brought  about 
an  atmosphere  of  artificial  quiet  in  the  midst  of  internal  and 
external  troubles,  in  which  attention  could  be  given  to  liter- 
ary and  scientific  matters.  The  daily  papers  which  were 
not  allowed  to  deal  freely  with  politics  became  more  and 
more  like  magazines.  They  devoted  most  of  their  space 
to  popular  articles  of  a  scientific  nature,  to  cultural  news 
from  foreign  countries,  and  to  fiction.  The  Terjuman-i- 
Hakikat  (Interpreter  of  Truth)  published,  in  its  daily 
issues,  the  history  of  every  country  in  the  world,  popular 
treatises  on  different  branches  of  knowledge,  besides  a 
great  variety  of  novels  and  articles.  These,  as  well  as 
similar  serial  publications  in  other  papers,  were  always  pub- 
lished in  book  form.  The  production  of  books  was  not, 
however,  confined  to  these  alone.  Books  of  all  varieties 
appeared  in  great  number.  Many  of  them  were  transla- 
tions of  exciting  French  novels,  but  they  were  not  useless,  as 
they  acquainted  the  reader  with  an  entirely  different  world, 
customs  and  ideas.  Besides,  books  of  a  serious  character 
were  also  well  represented.^ 

Ebouzzia  Tevfik  Bey,  a  close  friend  and  disciple  of  the 
great  writer  Kemal  Bey,  published  under  the  name  of 
Ehouzzia's  Library  a  long  list  of  books,  mostly  written  by 
Turkish  authors.  These  books  were  very  carefully  printed, 
and  were  of  real  value.  So  also  was  a  fortnightly  maga- 
zine published  by  the  same  man  under  the  title  of  Ehouzziafs 

*  A  list  of  three  hundred  and  three  of  the  works  published  in  1890  is 
given  in  Journal  Asiatique,  section  8,  volume  17.  This  list  indicates 
the  extent  of  intellectual  activity  and  the  great  variety  of  the  existing 
interests. 


\^ 


64  THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  MODERN  TURKEY         [64 

Magazine,  which  constituted  the  center  of  intellectual  life 
in  Turkey,  as  long  as  it  was  published/ 

During  the  Russian  War,  and  the  two  years  following, 
there  was  no  direct  censorship  of  the  press.  The  Sultan 
had  so  perfect  a  control  of  the  situation  that  he  could  afford 
to  leave  to  the  press  its  nominal  freedom.  In  1880,  probably 
^  on  account  of  the  pending  trial  of  Midhat  Pasha,  a  censor- 
ship was  instituted  in  the  ministry  for  public  instruction.  It 
was  not  very  rigid  and  did  not  include  a  pre-publication 
examination  of  the  papers.  The  usual  method  followed 
by  the  censors  was  to  go  to  newspaper  offices  and  give  in- 
structions, in  these  terms,  for  instance :  "  The  government 
has  a  deal  with  Germany,  during  the  next  few  days,  and 
nothing  shall  be  written  to  offend  that  power  or  to  weaken 
the  government's  position."  Measures  were  generally  taken 
after  the  publication  of  the  papers  to  punish  offending  writ- 
ers and  to  restrain  the  papers  from  repeating  similar 
offences. 

In  1890,  a  more  and  more  restrictive  policy  began  to  be 
followed  regarding  the  press.  The  ministry  of  the  interior 
was  charged  with  the  censorship,  the  ministry  of  public  in- 
struction retaining  the  right  of  authorizing  the  publication 
of  books.  The  authorities  were  forbidden  to  issue  permits 
for  the  publication  of  periodicals  without  the  knowledge 
and  express  authorization  of  the  Sultan.  As  the  Sultan  was 
averse  to  giving  such  authorizations,  new  papers  could  ap- 
pear only  under  exceptional  circumstances. 

This  new  attitude  was  taken,  because  the  Young  Turkish 

*  Mejmon'a-i-Funoon  (Constantinople,  1882),  ser.  ii,  no.  i,  contains  a 
list  of  22  periodicals  published  in  Constantinople  at  that  time,  including 
Ehouszia's  Magazine  and  excluding  itself.  Most  of  these  periodicals 
are  of  a  literary  and  popular  character.  There  is  among  them  a  weekly 
for  women,  called  Hanimlar  (Women)  and  published  by  Araguel,  one 
of  the  leading  booksellers  and  publishers  of  the  time. 


65]  THE  HAMIDIAN  PERIOD  65 

activity  seemed  to  be  gaining  ground  every  day.  The  press  t 
had  been  able  to  do  propaganda  work,  in  spite  of  the  re- 
strictions imposed.  The  censors  were  men  of  ignorance 
who  merely  took  care  that  forbidden  words  and  terms,  like 
constitution,  oppression,  Midhat  Pasha,  should  not  be  used. 
They  could  not  realize  that  forbidden  ideas  might  be  ex- 
pressed with  great  advantage  in  harmless-sounding  words 
or  through  indirect  allusion.  They  also  could  not  see  any 
harm  in  publications  of  a  general  nature  which  did  not  touch 
upon  political  questions  and  aimed  only  at  enlightening  the 
readers  on  certain  social  problems.  There  were  men  in  the 
press  who  could  take  advantage  of  the  situation.  Especially 
Mourad  Bey,  the  leading  figure  in  the  press  of  the  time,  had 
made  himself,  through  his  novels,  his  historical  works  and 
his  paper  Mizan  (Balance)  the  idol  of  the  intellectual 
classes.  Said  Bey,  another  prominent  journalist  took  de- 
light in  openly  satirizing  the  person  and  the  government  of 
Abdul  Hamid.  Having  been  the  cause  of  the  suppression 
of  several  papers,  he  could  no  longer  find  employment  in 
the  press,  so  he  devoted  his  time  to  writing  and  secretly 
diffusing  political  satires,  and  in  coining  slogans  for  the 
Young  Turkish  agitation.  After  repeatedly  escaping  pun- 
ishment by  promising  to  remain  orderly  in  the  future,  he 
was  exiled  to  Arabia. 

The  alarming  signs  of  militancy  were  not  confined  to  the 
press  and  to  the  secret  organizations  among  students,  but, 
to  the  terror  of  Abdul  Hamid,  religious  preachers  in  several  ^ 
mosques  began  to  attack  his  rule  also.  In  1891,  the  relig-  . 
ious  agitation  was  particularly  strong.  As  a  result,  the 
preacher  of  the  Kilidj-Ali  mosque  disappeared  from  his 
pulpit.  He  was  probably  exiled  by  the  palace  to  an  un- 
known destination. 

The  papers  in  Turkey  could  not,  of  course,  give  pub- 
licity to  such  events,  unless  they  received  communications 


66  THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  MODERN  TURKEY         [66 

from  the  palace  respecting  them,  and  these  would  be  of  such 
a  nature  as  to  misguide  the  reading  public.  But  there  were 
Young  Turkish  papers  in  foreign  countries  which  made  it 
\^  their  specialty  to  give  expression  to  every  kind  of  news  and 
opinion  certain  to  displease  Abdul  Hamid.  Previously,  in 
^  1 88 1,  an  anti-Hamidian  paper  had  been  published  in  Athens 
by  a  man  named  Essad  Effendi.  In  1891,  Mr.  Demetrius 
Georgiades,  an  Ottoman  Greek,  established  in  Paris  a  paper 
called  La  Turquie  Contemporaine,  as  an  "  organ  of  Young 
Turkey  " ;  but  he  had  to  give  up  his  work  by  order  of  the 
French  government. 

The  real  struggle  began,  however,  in  1892  when  Ahmed 
Riza  Bey,  the  director  of  public  instruction  of  the  Province 
of  Hudavendiguar,  fled  to  Europe  and  established  his 
/  Meshverett  (Deliberation). 

In  1894,  the  Armenian  massacres  caused  great  irritation 
among  the  Turkish  patriots.  The  necessity  for  urgent  ac- 
tion against  the  Hamidian  regime  was  strongly  felt,  es- 
pecially by  the  students.  Four  medical  students  laid  the 
^  foundation  of  the  Secret  Committee  of  Union  and  Progress. 
This  central  body  soon  established  branch  organizations  in 
different  districts  of  the  city,  in  several  ministries  including 
the  civil  list  administration  of  the  Sultan,  in  all  higher  gov- 
ernmental schools,  both  military  and  civil,  and  in  the  private 
boarding  school  "  Noumouna-i-Terakki  "  (Sample  of  Pro- 
*'  gress).  Besides,  there  were  branches  in  Beyrouth,  Damas- 
cus and  Rhodes.  The  secret  literature  distributed  and  the 
personal  agitation  aroused,  fell  upon  very  receptive  ground. 

The  flight  of  Mourad  Bey,  the  popular  journalist,  to 
Egypt  gave  great  impetus  to  the  movement.  He  was 
charged  by  the  Committee  to  represent  it  abroad  and  to 
publish  his  paper  in  Egypt,  later  in  Switzerland,  as  a  Com- 
mittee organ. 

The  Sultan  was  exceedingly  terrified  by  this  event.     His 


67]  THE  HAM  ID  I  AN  PERIOD  67 

secret  police  were  set  in  action.     Hundreds  of  suspects  were  .^. 
arrested,  tortured,  and  condemned  without  trial.    Some  dis- 
appeared, some  were  exiled.     This  only  strengthened  the 
position  of  the  Committee  and  added  to  the  movement  the 
thrill  of  martyrdom. 

A  plot  organized  by  the  Committee  to  depose  the  Sultan 
and  change  the  system  of  government  was  accidentally  dis- 
covered. New  arrests  followed.  Among  those  arrested 
were  many  prominent  men.  Kiazim  Pasha,  the  commander 
of  the  first  army  division,  who  was  to  be  the  chief  ex- 
ecutor of  the  plot  was  apprehended.  Many  others  were 
exiled,  but  some  managed  to  escape  and  join  the. revolu- 
tionary forces  around  Ahned  Riza  Bey  and  Mourad  Bey. 
The  attempt  to  establish  new  organizations  in  Constan- 
tinople failed,  because  most  of  the  old  members  were 
in  prison,  in  exile,  or  else  had  met  with  violent  deaths. 
The  medical  school  alone  had  maintained  a  strong  or- 
ganization, and  kept  publishing  "  underground "  papers. 
With  their  aid  two  new  branches  were  organized  at  the 
Military  Academy.  In  1897,  the  students  planned  a  demon- 
stration before  the  palace.  It  was  discovered  by  the  secret 
police.  After  horrible  tortures,  eighty-one  of  those  ar-  - 
rested  were  condemned,  thirteen  to  death. 

While  persecuting  the  suspects  within  the  borders  of  the 
country,  Abdul  Hamid  spared  no  effort  to  check  the  move- 
ment abroad.  Not  being  able  to  bribe  the  leaders  with 
money  or  favors,  he  appealed  to  the  foreign  governments 
to  suppress  the  Young  Turkish  papers.  The  French  gov- 
ernment consented  in  1896  to  suppress  the  Meshverett  of 
Ahmed  Riza  Bey  and  to  expel  the  editor  himself  from 
France.  This  decision  was  later  modified,  as  a  result  of  agi- 
tation by  the  French  press,  only  the  "  circulation  of  the  '^ 
Young  Turkish  organ  in  France"  being  prohibited.  Ahmed 
Riza  Bey  preferred  to  publish  his  paper  in  Switzerland, 


68  THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  MODERN  TURKEY         [68 

but  Abdul  Hamid  succeeded  in  bribing  the  printer  and  in 
buying  the  Turkish  type  which  served  for  its  printing/ 
A.fter  publishing  it  for  some  time  by  lithography,  the  per- 
severing journalist  went  to  Belgium.  Being  expelled  from 
there  in  December  1897,  he  had  tO'  return  to  France. 

Meanwhile,  the  Sultan  had  made  a  valuable  acquisition 
to  his  cama/rilla,  in  the  person  of  Izzet  Pasha,  a  Syrian. 
This  man  whom  Abdul  Hamid  called  "  the  real  friend  he  at 
last  found "  strengthened  him  in  his  pan-islamistic  and 
fanatical  tendencies,  encouraging  him  to  pursue  his  policy 
of  the  elimination  and  suppression  of  the  undesirable  in  a 
larger  measure,  in  spite  of  Europe  and  Young  Turkey. 

It  was  decided  at  the  palace  to  try  some  new  tactics 
against  the  Young  Turks.  Accordingly,  they  were  pro- 
mised all  the  reforms  they  wanted  and  a  general  amnesty, 
under  the  condition  that  they  should  cease  their  organi- 
zation and  propaganda  work  and  give  the  throne  opportun- 
ity to  acquire  some  prestige  for  the  coming  reforms.  Un- 
less they  accepted  this,  Abdul  Hamid  threatened  to  increase 
his  persecutions  and  atrocities.  Trusting  in  his  promises  and 
believing  firmly  that  he  was  able  to  carry  out  his  threats,  the 
party  was  dissolved,  all  publications  with  the  exception  of 
Meshverett,  suspended,  and  the  leader  Mourad  Bey  went  to 
Constantinople  as  a  hostage.  He  was  personally  honored 
and  given  a  high  position,  a  partial  amnesty  was  proclaimed 
without  being  executed,  but  otherwise  the  Sultan  showed  no 
inclination  to  keep  his  word. 

These  happenings,  especially  the  desertion  of  the  most 
popular  leader,  had  a  depressing  influence  on  the  Young 
Turks.  All  hope  was  given  up.  The  easy  victory  in  the 
Greek-Turkish  War  of  1897  had  also  served  to  increase  the 

'    1  Paul  Fesh,  Les  derniers  jours  d' Abdul  Hamid   (Paris,  1907),  pp. 
33^237. 


6g]  THE  HAMIDIAN  PERIOD  69 

prestige  of  the  Sultan  as  a  military  and  religious  lord,  and 
made  the  period  unfavorable  for  agitation. 

The  Young  Turks  in  foreign  countries  were  no  longer 
centrally  organized,  but  still  individual  efforts  did  not  die 
out.  The  number  of  Young  Turkish  papers  and  the  bulk 
of  pamphlet  literature  were  daily  increasing.  The  Mesh- 
verett  of  March  15,  1898,  speaks  of  seven  new  organs 
"established  within  the  last  two  months."  These  papers, 
were  published  mostly  in  Egypt,  the  Balkan  States,  France 
and  Switzerland,  and  to  a  lesser  extent  in  England,  Ger- 
many, Austria  and  Belgium.  Most  of  them  were  short- 
lived on  account  of  financial  difficulties,  or  on  account  of 
the  fact  that  they  were  merely  published  to  blackmail  the 
Sultan.  In  1898  and  the  following  years,  it  was,  in  fact, 
the  usual  practice  for  ambitious  functionaries  without 
strong  palace  protection,  to  make  a  European  trip  as  Young 
Turks,  to  publish,  or  to  make  an  attempt  to  publish,  mutin- 
ous literature,  and  then  to  sell  their  silence  for  a  superior 
position  in  the  government  service.^  There  were  also 
palace  spies  who  lived  in  foreign  countries  disguised  as 
Young  Turks,  in  order  to  keep  the  Sultan  informed  about 
the  doings  of  the  revolutionary  parties. 

The  Young  Turkish  papers  were  mostly  published  gratui- 
tously. Everyone  could  get  as  many  copies  as  he  might  ask 
for.  They  depended  for  their  existence  upon  the  personal 
means  of  the  publisher,  and  on  occasional  contributions. 
Even  those  charging  a  subscription  price  were  glad  to  send 
copies  gratuitously  on  application.  They  had  names  such  as 
"  Constitution  ",  "  Liberty  ",  "  Safety  ",  "  Revival  ",  "  Jus- 
tice ",  "  Ideal  ",  "  Future  ",  but  names  like  "  Thunderbolt  ", 
and  "  Revenge  "  could  also  be  found.  Most  of  them  were 
of  a  political  character,  registering  the  events  taking  place 

*  UEtat  Politique  de  la  Turquie  et  le  Parti  Liberal,  pamphlet  by  Dr. 
J.  Loutfi,  Paris,  1901. 


u- 


yo  THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  MODERN  TURKEY  [70 

in  Turkey  behind  the  veil  and  discussing  the  methods  of 
overthrowing  the  despotic  government  and  of  ruling  the 
country  after  that  overthrow.  There  were  also  satirical 
publications  like  i^az'ow/  (Kettle-Drum)  and  Tokmak  (Mal- 
let). Magazines  of  a  serious  character  were  rather  small 
in  number.  The  most  prominent  was  the  Ijtihad  (Free 
Search)  published  by  Dr.  Abdullah  Djevdet  in  Egypt.  He 
also  published  a  "  Free  Search  Library  "  consisting  of  re- 

^  prints  of  forbidden  Turkish  works  and  translations  from 
French  and  English.  Sociological  works  had  a  large  share 
among  the  translated  volumes  of  the  library. 

At  the  beginning  of  1900,  the  escape  from  Turkey  of 
Mahmoud  Pasha,  a  brother-in-law  of  the  Sultan,  with  his 
two  sons,  and  later  of  Ali  Haidar  Midhat  Bey,  son  of 
Midhat  Pasha,  ''  martyr  of  liberty  "  as  he  is  popularly 
called,  made  Young  Turkey  triumph  anew  at  the  expense 
of  the  Sultan. 

In  1902,  forty-seven  young  Ottomans,  belonging  to  the 
various  elements  of  the  population  in  Turkey,  held  a  con- 
gress in  Paris  under  the  presidency  of  Prince  Sabahiddin, 
eldest  son  of  Mahmoud  Pasha.  The  Congress,  which  was 
primarily  expected  to  find  a  basis  for  co-operation  revealed 
the  extent  of  agreement  and  disagreement  existing  between 
those  who  had  revolted  against  the  state  of  affairs  in  the 
country.  In  the  face  of  the  magnitude  of  the  problems 
which  invited  their  opposition,  they  almost  appeared  a 
homogeneous  group.  They  had  in  common  the  hatred 
against  the  Hamidian  regime,  the  idea  that  the  Sultan 
should  be  deposed,  his  dethroned  brother  Mourad  pro- 
claimed Sultan,  and  a  constitutional  regime  established.  They 
had  also  in  common  the  belief  in  the  magical  effect  of  the 

^  words  "  liberty,  equality,  fraternity."  These  magical  words 
seemed  to  presage  a  complete  metamorphosis  and  satisfied 
them  in  an  easy  way  as  to  their  future  duties,  since  they 


71  ]  THE  HAMIDIAN  PERIOD  71 

could  not  analyze  the  real  situation,  and  simply  thought  an 
overthrow  of  the  existing  system  was  all  the  work  to  be 
done. 

Most  of  the  recruits  to  the  cause  were  students  with 
ideals,  or  government  employees  who  had  experienced  the  ^ 
evils  of  the  system  in  their  own  cases.  Theologians  were 
also  represented  whose  religious  feelings  were  hurt  by  the 
backward  state  of  the  country,  ascribed  abroad  to  the  in- 
fluence of  the  Mohammedan  religion  itself. 

The  general  type  had  deviations  on  both  sides.  On  the 
one  hand,  there  were  those  who  found  it  fashionable  and 
attractive  to  spend  a  merry  life  in  Paris,  and  call  them- 
selves at  the  same  time  Young  Turks  and  revolutionaries. 
On  the  other  hand,  there  were  earnest  men  who  had  a  scien- 
tific training  and  a  broad  knowledge,  who  could  understand 
and  face  the  situation  as  it  was. 

All  these  men  who  seemed  to  have  so  many  points  of 
agreement  in  a  general  way,  would  hardly  have  been  able 
to  co-operate  smoothly  on  the  field  of  constructive  action. 
They  were  mostly  individualistic :  even  the  most  influential 
leaders  had  around  them  only  a  small  circle  of  followers 
and  adherents.  Still,  these  men  were  able  to  maintain 
abroad  a  free  Turkish  political  and  intellectual  life,  and  to 
keep  afire,  and  strengthen  through  their  literature  the  con- 
scious efforts  for  betterment. 

While  this  turbulent  movement  was  developing  abroad 
everything  in  Turkey  seemed  to  lie  dormant  and  stationary. 
In  reality,  this  was  so  only  on  the  surface.  Two  processes 
were  taking  place  which  were  changing  the  outlook  and  the 
relation  of  things  beneath  the  unchanging  surface.  The 
one  was  the  growth  of  individuation,  the  other  was  the  ' 
growth  and  specialization  of  the  system  designed  to  check  u 
this  individuation  because  it  might  disturb  the  wide  extent 
of  power  and  full  enjoyment  of  life  of  a  single  individual, 
Sultan  Abdul  Hamid. 


y2  THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  MODERN  TURKEY  [72 

Although  Hashim  Pasha,  the  Sultan's  favorite  min- 
ister for  public  instruction,  had  expressed  the  idea 
that  his  ministry  could  be  run  wonderfully,  the  bud- 
get balanced,  the  officials  satisfied  through  large  in- 
creases in  their  salaries,  if  only  there  were  no  schools 
to  be  taken  care  of,  Abdul  Hamid's  greatest  ambi- 
tion was  to  be  called  by  the  press,  as  often  as  possible, 
"  fosterer  of  public  instruction  "  and  ''  protector  of  pro- 
gress ".  He  kept  increasing  the  number  of  schools,  but  took 
/  pains  that  they  should  only  check  the  "  harmful  tendencies 
noticeable  in  the  new  generation."  In  public  schools  of 
every  description,  not  excepting  the  schools  of  agriculture 
and  veterinary  science,  there  were  given  courses  in  "morals" 
in  which  the  students  were  taught  that  blind  obedience  to 
the  Sultan  and  gratitude  for  his  endless  gifts  were  the 
supreme  objects  of  life.  To  confirm  the  truth  of  these 
teachings,  free  board,  and  free  clothing,  and  pocket  money 
were  given  to  the  students  of  all  higher  institutions,  agri- 
cultural, and  industrial  training  schools,  and  to  those  stu- 
dents of  secondary  schools  who  could  not  support  them- 
selves. As  an  additional  measure  of  precaution,  the  teach- 
ing of  everything  which  might  stimulate  abstract  thinking 
and  produce  idealists  and  dreamers  was  curtailed  and  at- 
tention concentrated  on  mathematics  and  the  natural 
sciences. 

The  results  were  disastrous  for  Abdul  Hamid.  His  free 
•^  schools  attracted  a  great  many  students  from  every  class 
of  people,  but  they  produced  only  discontents  and  militants, 
who,  profiting  by  their  close  association  with  other  young 
men,  could  interchange  revolutionary  ideas.  Very  often 
there  were  attempts  made  to  publish  revolutionary  papers 
in  these  closely  guarded  schools.  After  their  graduation, 
the  students  carried  the  germ  of  revolt  to  every  comer 
of  the  country,  where  they  were  sent  as  government  officials. 


73]  THE  HAMIDIAN  PERIOD  73 

Besides  this,  the  many  thousands  of  exiles  in  the  provinces  ^ 
were  also  engaged  in  active  agitation.  The  foreign  post- 
offices  were  the  medium  which  broke  the  ban  of  isolation 
imposed  by  Sultan  Abdul  Hamid  and  brought  in  a  life 
stream  in  the  form  of  Young  Turkish  literature  and  French  i^ 
books.  Without  them  the  source  of  intellectual  animation 
of  Turkey  would  have  been  confined  to  works  formerly 
written  by  Turkish  authors  and  secretly  circulated  among 
those  who  were  perfectly  confident  of  each  other's  character. 
Many  such  works  had  never  seen  print ;  they  existed  only  in 
manuscript  or  in  memory.  The  present  writer  remembers 
having  read  the  second  volume  of  Djezmi,  a  historical  novel 
which  had  never  been  printed,  in  a  hand-written  copy 
brought  back  by  a  cousin  of  his  who  had  to  do  military  ser- 
vice in  the  interior  of  Asia  Minor. 

Political  exiles  and  other  militant  spirits  who  were 
obliged  to  use  the  old  means  of  traveling  by  way  of  the 
road,  stopping  at  inns  overnight,  found  a  peculiar  outlet 
for  the  expression  0;f  their  sentiments,  in  writing  upon  the  '' 
whitewashed  walls  of  their  rooms  such  messages  and  ideas 
as  they  wished  to  communicate.  Each  traveler  in  turn  read 
the  utterances  and  added  his  own  remarks  to  the  thoughts 
of  the  previous  writers,  so  that  even  in  remote  and  isolated 
places,  the  flame  of  agitation  was  constantly  fed. 

In  addition  to  the  factors  indicated  so  far,  the  economic 
changes,  the  increase  in  means  of  communication  with  ^ 
Europe  and  the  various  parts  of  the  empire,  the  growing 
importation  of  machinery  and  other  manufactured  articles,  ^ 
brought  about  a  new  distribution  of  energy,  and  a  disloca- 
tion of  current  relations  with  need  for  readjustment.  In- 
stead of  blind  submission  to  authority,  revolt  and  dissent 
began  to  be  the  quality  admired  and  esteemed  by  many 
sections  of  the  population.  More  pleasure  began  to  be 
found  in  individual  action  and  in  change,  than  in  following 


74  THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  MODERN  TURKEY  [74 

the  ways  imposed  by  authority.  Questioning,  doubt,  self- 
criticism  made  their  way  among  such  sections  of  the  popu- 
lation where  previously  no  worldly  happening,  no  bitter  ex- 
perience could  have  disturbed  the  peace,  harmony  and  sub- 
mission to  fate. 

Hand  in  hand  with  this  development  grew  the  system 
w  which  aimed  at  suppressing  it.  The  group  around  the 
^  Sultan  became  more  and  more  intricate  in  its  organization. 
It  was  a  hierarchy  based  upon  favor  and  service.  There 
was  a  small  number  of  men  who  enjoyed  the  personal 
favor  of  the  Sultan.  They  all  had  their  "  men  "  whom  they 
appointed  to  important  positions  expecting  from  them  part 
of  the  booty  and  also  expecting  zealous  effort  for  the  main- 
tenance of  the  system,  manifested  especially  through  denun- 
ciation of  those  suspected  of  having  "  new  "  ideas.  The 
"  men  "  again  had  their  dependents  consisting  mostly  of 
^  spies  of  varying  degrees  of  importance.  As  every  party  was 
interested  in  acquainting  the  Sultan  with  more  striking 
material  about  the  plots  of  the  Young  Turks,  than  his  neigh- 
bor produced,  dramatic  imagination  was  freely  used,  and 
where  evidence  could  not  be  found,  it  could  be  first  ar- 
ranged and  then  found.  Blackmail  of  every  sort  could  of 
course  be  very  freely  practiced  under  such  conditions. 

The  competitive  zeal  of  the  favorites  and  their  "  men  ", 
and  the  increasing  signs  of  unrest  resulted  in  making  the 
system  more  and  more  rigid  and  oppressive.  The  books 
published  in  one  year  were  considered  dangerous  and  were 
forbidden  during  the  next.  Every  new  day  made  people 
look  longingly  back  upon  the  previous  day.  The  experi- 
ences of  former  times  when  Midhat  Pasha  and  Kemal  Bey 
were  active  and  when  there  existed  a  free  press,  had  gained 
a  mythical  character  in  the  public  mind.  All  who  were 
not  actually  in  the  system  were  against  it.  When  a  few 
people  knowing  each  other  perfectly  well,  could  somewhere 


75]  THE  HAM  ID  I  AN  PERIOD  75 

come  together  where  no  spies  could  possibly  be  present, 
the  stories  of  old  times  were  repeated  with  patriotic  passion. 
Conversations  of  this  kind  were  often  concluded  with  the 
words :  "  The  Turks  can  never  learn  by  experience.  We 
can  never  be  saved  and  reformed."  In  spite  of  these  pessi- 
mistic words,  everybody  had  the  confident  expectation  in 
his  heart  that  everything  would  be  better  as  soon  as  the 
Sultan  was  overthrown.  Such  gatherings  could  not  take 
place  often,  because  social  intercourse  of  every  kind  was 
considered  suspicious  and  criminal.  Even  for  wedding 
parties  and  gatherings  of  that  sort  it  was  safe  to  ask  a  secret 
policeman  for  his  presence. 

While  the  Young  Turkish  press  issued  in  other  countries 
gave  expression  to  the  individuating  tendencies,  the  restrain- 
ing efforts  of  the  Hamidian  system  were  reflected  in  the 
press  published  at  home. 

In  1 89 1,  when  Young  Turkish  agitation  against  the 
Sultan  began  to  gain  a  serious  character,  there  were  pub- 
lished in  Constantinople,  six  dailies,  {Tarik,  Terdjumani-i- 
Hakikat,  Saadeit,  Servett,  Sahah,  Zuhour),  two  political 
weeklies  {Mizan,  Muruwet) ,  a  weekly  military  gazette,  a 
weekly  and  a  fortnightly  navy  gazette,  weekly  bulletins  of 
justice,  public  works,  and  army  medical  service  depart- 
ments, a  medical  and  a  commercial  review,  an  illustrated 
fortnightly,  and  a  law  review.  The  publications  in  non- 
Turkish  languages  included  nine  in  Armenian,  eight  in 
Greek,  two  in  French,  two  in  French  and  English,  three  in 
Hebrew,  one  in  German,  one  in  Bulgarian,  one  in  Persian 
and  one  in  Arabic.^ 

After  1 89 1,  the  Turkish  press  which  was  more  and  more 
restrained  politically  gave  its  entire  attention  to  literary 
matters.     The  Terjummv-i-Hakikat  and  several  other  daily 

1  The  official  year  book  for  1891,  chapter  on  the  press. 


76  THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  MODERN  TURKEY         [76 

papers  became  the  scene  of  a  remarkable  literary  movement, 
guided  by  men  mostly  belonging  to  the  old  generation. 
Some  gifted  writers  of  the  young  generation  who  had  a 
thorough  French  training  revolted  against  them  and  estab- 
lished a  modern  school,  French  in  form,  but  Turkish  in 
spirit.       They     founded     an     illustrated     weekly     named 

*^    Servet-i-Funoun  (Wealth  of  Knowledge).     In  spite  of  the 
imposed  restrictions,  this  weekly  created  an  intellectual  re- 

\j  volution  among  the  thinking  classes,  and  influenced  the 
present  generation  of  Turkey  more  than  any  other  single 
factor.  Its  poems,  and  short  stories,  and  novels,  analyzing 
critically  the  everyday  aspect  of  the  Turkish  social  life,  were 
published  in  book  form,  in  a  series  called  the  New  Litercp- 
ture  Library.  In  spite  of  repeated  denunciations,  the 
weekly  was  not  suppressed,  but  managed  to  maintain  its 
dominant  position  for  several  years,  because  its  proprietor 
^  Ahmed  Ihsan  Bey  was  a  classmate  and  friend  of  Arif  Bey, 
a  man  high  in  Abdul  Hamid's  personal  service.  It  found 
many  imitators.     Even  the  provinces  shared  in  the  New 

^  Literature  movement,  among  others,  Brusa  with  the  Mouk- 
tehes,  Salonica  with  the  Mutalaha  and  Smyrna  with  the 
Haftalik  Ismir. 

This  movement  was  called  a  "  decadence  in  literature 
and  in  social  ideals,"  by  the  writers  of  the  old  school.  The 
animosity  between  the  old  and  the  new  was  very  bitter. 

The  opposition  against  the  Young  writers  did  not  come 
only  from  a  few  colleagues  who  differed  from  them  in 
ideas  and  principles.  The  press  had  been  invaded  by  a 
young  man  of  great  enterprising  power  who  showed  ex- 
ceptional skill  in  becoming  within  a  short  time  a  palace 
favorite  of  influence.  His  name  was  Tahir  Bey.  He  was 
publishing  four  dailies,  two  in  Turkish,  one  in  French,  one 
in  Arabic,  and  five  weeklies,  and  was  threatening  a  complete 

^   monopoly  of  the  Turkish  press.     He  had  introduced,  for 


77]  THE  HAMIDIAN  PERIOD  yy 

the  first  time,  yellow  methods  into  the  make-up  and  char- 
acter of  the  Turkish  press,  where  generally  a  conservative 
and  dignified  tone  was  dominant.  This  man,  who,  in  spite 
of  his  tempting  offers,  could  not  add  the  adherents  of  the 
new  school  to  his  staff,  used  his  influence  to  restrain  them, 
and  later  to  stop  their  activity  altogether.  The  growth  of 
Young  Turkish  agitation  abroad  and  the  increase  of  auto- 
cratic tendencies  by  Abdul  Hamid  as  a  result  of  the  easy 
victory  in  the  Greek  War  (1897)  were  factors  which  aided 
Tahir  Bey  in  his  intrigues.  His  papers  did  not,  however, 
long  retain  their  success;  it  was  found  out  that  he  was 
engaged  in  selling  counterfeit  orders  and  medals  to  ambi- 
tious foreigners,  and  his  fall  was  as  rapid  as  his  rise.  His 
property  was  seized,  and  all  his  papers  were  suppressed. 

This  event  did  not  give  back  to  the  remaining  papers  the 
position  they  formerly  enjoyed.  Abdul  Hamid's  dread  of 
the  press  had  so  greatly  increased  that  he  did  not  authorize 
the  publication  of  a  single  new  periodical  in  Constantinople, 
during  the  decade  preceding  the  Revolution  of  1908.  The 
field  had  become  crystallized  in  every  respect.  The  only 
changing  element  was  the  severity  of  censorship.  Every 
censor  wanted  to  outdo  the  others  in  zeal.  There  was  also 
a  great  number  of  spies,  who  made  the  misprints  in  the 
papers  or  peculiar  interpretations  of  certain  passages  the 
subject  of  their  daily  reports  to  the  palace  favorite,  among 
whose  dependents  they  were. 

The  Servet-i-Funoun,  the  organ  of  the  New  Literature 
Movement,  was  allowed  to  continue  its  existence  under  the 
condition  that  it  should,  by  no  means,  touch  upon  literature. 
It  could  devote  its  space  to  medicine,  agriculture,  horticul- 
ture, and  to  similar  subjects.  Poetry  of  every  kind  was 
put  under  the  ban,  because  "  it  might  excite  the  feelings  of 
the  people." 

The  single  exception  made,  concerned  poems  in  praise  of 
the  Sultan  and  his  work. 


78  THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  MODERN  TURKEY  [78 

The  only  periodicals  of  literary  character  besides  Servet- 
i^Funoim,  was  a  weekly  for  women  and  one  for  children. 
These  papers  had  occupied  an  influential  position  at  the 
time  when  the  press  was  still  allowed  to  publish  original 
contributions  of  Turkish  authors.  At  that  time,  there  had 
been  formed  a  staff  of  talented  women  writers,  who  kept 
their  readers  interested,  even  if  they  were  not  allowed  to 
give  expression  to  the  ideas  of  feminism  gaining  ground 
among  Turkish  women.  When  signed  articles  were 
^forbidden  and  even  original  contributions  had  to  be  pub- 
/  lished  as  -  translations  from  some  foreign  paper,  the  two 
weeklies  would  have  discontinued  their  publications  but  for 
the  subvention  accorded  them  by  the  government. 

The  rest  of  the  periodical  literature  comprised  only  offi- 
cial publications  of  the  state  departments  and  the  Chamber 
of  Commerce. 

Of  dailies  there  were  three  the  Ikdani  (Perseverent  Ef- 
fort), the  Sabah  (Morning),  and  the  Terjuman-i-Hakikat 
(Interpreter  of  Truth).  The  six  dailies  and  two  weeklies 
of  1 89 1  had  dwindled  to  this  number,  as  the  severity  of 
censorship  increased.  All  three  received  government 
subventions  of  about  four  hundred  dollars  monthly  each. 
Besides,  the  stamp  tax  had  been  abolished  in  1900,  when 
the  relation  of  the  press  to  the  palace  had  become  so  close 
that  there  was  no  further  need  for  financial  restraint. 
The  price  of  all  three  papers  was  one  cent  per  copy  and  eight 
dollars  per  year,  postage  prepaid.  The  Ikdam  and  the  Sabah 
could  support  themselves  even  without  the  subvention,  hav- 
ing a  circulation  of  fifteen  thousand  and  twelve  thousand 
respectively.  There  was  very  little  fluctuation  in  their  cir- 
culation. In  fact,  the  whole  production  in  periodical  liter- 
ature under  the  Hamidian  regime  had  been  stationary  in  an 
absolute  sense  and  widely  retrogressive  in  a  relative  sense. 
While  the  number  of  the  people  with  reading  ability  had 


79]  THE  HAMIDIAN  PERIOD  yg 

tripled,  and  the  price  of  the  papers  was  reduced  from  four 
cents  to  one  cent,  nearly  the  same  number  of  papers  was 
circulated  in  1873,  as  in  1901. 

This  can  be  proved,  to  some  extent,  by  the  number  of 
press  stamps  consumed  in  the  period  between  1873  and 
1901,  when  the  papers  had  to  affix  a  stamp  of  one-fifth  of  a 
cent  on  every  copy.     The  number  was  as  follows :  ^ 

1873  (last  five  months)    19,304,360 

1874    32,704,600 

The  yearly  average  for  1875-77  43,455,900 

1878    55,702,440 

The  yearly  average  for   1879-81 '. . .  47,772,340 

The  yearly  average  for  1882-84   50,906,540 

The  yearly  average  for   1885-87    54,435,000 

The  yearly  average  for  1888-90   59,167,700 

The  yearly  average  for  1891-93   58,435,000 

The  yearly  average  for  1894-96,   62,435,500 

The  yearly  average  for  1897-1900   64,942,200 

Unfortunately,  the  figures  given  here  include  the  stamps 
used  by  papers  in  non-Turkish  languages,  as  well  as  the 
large  quantity  consumed  for  printed  matter  having  an  ad- 
vertising character. 

The  increase  in  the  figures  is  undoubtedly  due  to  the 
growth  in  the  amount  of  printed  matter  for  advertising 
purposes.  While,  at  the  beginning,  the  stamp  was  almost 
entirely  used  by  newspapers,  the  advertising  circulars  be- 
gan later  to  use  a  larger  and  larger  share.  This  is  shown  by 
the  fact  that,  in  1906,  when  all  the  papers  were  exempted 
from  the  stamp  duty,  the  number  of  stamps  sold  for  ad- 
vertising literature  still  amounted  to  55,600,440. 

The  necessity  for  issuing  news  rapidly  and  printing  a 

^  The  figures  were  kindly  furnished  by  the  Ottoman  Public  Debt  De- 
partment. They  are  not  exact  on  the  unit  digit,  because  they  were 
originally  expressed  in  Turkish  money  value,  and  had  to  be  reduced 
into  numbers  of  stamps. 


8o  THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  MODERN  TURKEY  [go 

larger  number  of  copies  in  a  shorter  time  than  usual  during 
^  the  Greek  War  of  1897,  caused  the  technical  equipment 
of  the  papers  to  be  perfected.  Their  size  grew,  and  their 
appearance  improved.  The  bulk  of  the  advertisements  also 
kept  increasing,  along  with  the  economic  activity  of  the 
country. 

The  situation  was  different,  however,  with  regard  to  the 
,  contents  of  the  papers.  There  the  line  of  change  was  in 
the  opposite  direction.  On  an  average,  one  fourth  of 
the  space  was  given  to  official  communications  and  news 
concerning  the  Sultan.  The  rest  of  the  internal  news  con- 
sisted of  what  was  obtained  by  the  reporters  from  the  state 
departments.  Crimes  and  accidents  occupied  very  little 
space.  The  part  of  the  paper  really  edited  by  the  staff, 
consisted  of  translations  or  adaptations  from  foreign  papers, 
and  from  the  bulletins  of  telegraphic  agencies.  Every  daily 
^  used  to  get  a  dozen  or  more  French,  Austrian,  German  and 
English  reviews  and  papers.  Everything  found  in  them  on 
foreign  politics  having  nothing  to  do  with  Turkey  and 
the  European  situation,  and  concerning  mostly  South 
America,  the  Far  East  and  the  Scandinavian  countries,  was 
translated,  as  well  as  cultural  news  of  a  harmless  character 
and  stories  on  odd  happenings  in  different  countries. 
American  millionaires  formed  a  very  popular  subject  to 
write  about.  The  tendency  to  supply  the  elements  of 
attraction  which  the  papers  generally  lacked,  by  giving 
exaggerated  tales  on  the  doings  of  Americans  was  carried 
to  such  an  excess  that  the  word  America  became  for  the 
^  Turkish  public  synonymous  with  eccentricity  and  oddness. 
Sometimes,  imaginary  happenings  had  to  be  presented  as 
real  ones,  because  fiction  was,  to  a  large  extent,  interdicted. 
At  first,  the  interdiction  concerned  only  the  actions  repre- 
sented as  happening  in  Turkey  or  among  Turks.  Later, 
every    novel    and    story    was    prohibited    which    might 


8i]  THE  HAMIDIAN  PERIOD  8l 

cause  strong  sensations.  Descriptions  of  travels  were  the 
next  thing  to  be  singled  out  as  permissible,  love  stories  be- 
ing put  under  a  strict  ban. 

The  policy  of  the  palace  was  very  rigid,  but  it  was  cor- 
respondingly short-sighted.  As  the  papers  were  not  al- 
lowed to  deal  with  matters  of  immediate  interest  to  the 
people,  wild  rumors  of  every  kind  could  easily  spread  and  *^ 
find  credulous  believers,  in  spite  of  the  difficulties  connected 
with  social  intercourse.  The  papers  which  seemed  to  give  all 
their  attention  to  inventing  new  titles  and  praising  phrases 
for  the  Sultan  and  which  devoted  their  entire  space  for  a 
week  or  more  after  the  anniversaries  of  the  days  of  the 
Sultan's  birth  and  throne  accession,  to  giving  details  of  the 
celebration  and  to  describing  how  every  single  man  of 
prominence  decorated  his  house,  could  not  really  enjoy  much 
prestige.  The  readers  were  inclined  to  believe  the  oppositely- 
of  what  the  papers  stated.  Whenever  they  reported  with 
insistence  that  public  order  in  some  part  of  the  empire  was 
perfect,  the  readers  knew^  by  experience  that  some  specially 
grave  trouble  must  have  occurred  there.  Of  course,  there 
was  also  a  large  class  of  readers  who  believed  every  single 
word,  and  for  whom  a  world  outside  of  that  marked  out  by 
the  papers  did  not  exist.  Even  these  people,  however, 
would  have  taken  their  papers  less  seriously,  had  they 
known  how  the  passages  relating  to  the  Sultan  were  written. 

The  regular  members  of  the  staff  of  the  paper  would 
have  nothing  to  do  with  stories,  in  which  the  praise  of  the 
Sultan  was  the  main  feature.  Each  paper  had  some  old 
experienced  man  to  perform  the  work.  Only  on  rare 
occasions,  however,  did  even  he  have  any  amount  of 
original  writing  to  do.  There  were  formulas  in  old 
numbers  fitting  every  possible  case  and  event,  in  which 
the  Sultan  might  be  involved.  These  were  simply  ^ 
copied    without    any    thought    about    their    meaning    and 


82  THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  MODERN  TURKEY  [82 

sense.  The  copies  were  read  twice  by  experienced  copy 
readers  who  had  the  greatest  responsibility  regarding  the 
destiny  of  the  paper,  and  were  the  best  paid  men  on  the 
staff.  The  shghtest  misprint  in  a  passage  relating  to  the 
Sultan  might  have  very  grave  consequences.  A  third 
reading  of  the  copies  was  made  by  the  censors  who  made  an 
abundant  and  arbitrary  use  of  their  red  ink.     Although  the 

k/ journalists  had  a  great  deal  of  experience  in  judging  be- 
tween available  and  unavailable  stories,  one-fifth  or  more 

y  of  the  material  presented  was  crossed  out.  A  certain  num- 
ber of  copies,  previously  approved  by  the  censors  was  al- 
ways kept  on  hand  for  emergency  cases. 

The  vocabulary  used  was  very  limited.  As  a  large  num- 
ber of  words  could  not  be  used,  and  as  this  number  kept 
increasing,  ability  in  paraphrasing  became  one  of  the  neces- 
sary qualities  of  writing  for  the  press.  The  journalists 
were  always  confronted  with  the  temptation  to  use  vague 
terms  and  to  make  people  read  between  the  lines.  There 
was  a  conventional  language  used  between  the  journalist 
and  the  experienced  reader  which  made  the  latter  learn 
more  than  the  mere  words  could  convey.      For  instance, 

^  when  a  foreign  ruler  became  a  victim  of  anarchists,  the 
Turkish  journalist  wrote  with  insistence  that  he  had  died 

.  a  natural  death.  This  insistent  way  of  expression  in- 
formed the  reader  that  something  was  not  quite  in  order. 

It  is  remarkable  that  this  corrupt  press  without  any 
marked  influence  had  a  staff  of  very  patriotic,  hon- 
est and  able  men,  although  the  proprietors  in  most  instances 
were  ready  to  accept  every  humiliation  and  sacrifice  to  gain 
favor  and  wealth.  The  character  of  the  profession  had  un- 
doubtedly to  do  with  this  favorable  selection,  but  the  fact 
that  newspaper  work  was  very  poorly  paid  also  accounted 
for  it.  As  people  with  elastic  consciences,  who  had  some 
writing  ability,  could  easily  ascend  the  scale,  they  could  have 


83]  THE  HAMIDIAN  PERIOD  83 

no  interest  for  this  branch  of  work.  The  salary  of  a  chief 
editor  was  about  sixty  dollars  a  month.  An  experienced 
editor  received  forty-five  dollars  and  an  ordinary  translator 
twenty-five  dollars.  Reporters  received  from  ten  to  thirty 
dollars  a  month.  Most  of  them  had  outside  occupations 
as  tutors  or  government  officials. 

A  pecuHarity  of  the  Turkish  journalist  was  his  number  of 
titles  and  orders.  The  Sultan  seemed  to  act  according  to 
the  Turkish  proverb,  implying  that  it  is  wise  to  kiss  the  hand 
which  one  is  not  able  to  break.  There  were  newspaper  men 
who  were  given  by  the  Sultan  the  title  of  "  Excellency  ", 
and  some  of  the  highest  orders.  There  did  not  exist  any 
journalist  who  had  not  his  share  in  the  distribution  of  titles 
and  orders.  Moreover,  the  Sultan  abstained  from  giving 
the  newspaper  men  personal  causes  for  dissatisfaction. 
They  were  free  to  read  foreign  papers  and  to  do  many 
things,  which  the  ordinary  man  could  not  do,  without  be- 
ing molested  by  the  secret  police.  On  the  other  hand,  it 
was  not  wise  for  outsiders  tO'  have  much  to  do  with  journal- 
ists. As  they  were  in  the  "  system  "  without  actually  be- 
longing to  it,  and  as  they  could  read  foreign  papers,  those 
seeking  their  company  were  likely  to  be  denounced  as 
committing  a  political  oifense. 

While  this  atmosphere  of  imposed  isolation  which  was 
calculated  to  undo  and  balance  the  social  results  of  modem 
means  of  communication,  was  becoming  more  and  more 
rigid  and  perfect,  the  disturbances  underground  were  cor- 
respondingly increasing.  This  time  Constantinople,  where 
the  palace  was  on  its  guard,  was  not  made  the  centre  of 
secret  agitation.  The  Macedonian  provinces  which  were 
under  international  control  and  where  the  government  had 
sent  a  select  and  honest  class  of  officials  and  army  officers 
in  order  to  demonstrate  that  it  was  capable  of  good  govern- 
ment, were  much  more  favorable  fields  of  operation.     The 


84  THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  MODERN  TURKEY  [84 

central  organization  of  the  Committee  of  Union  and  Pro- 
j  gress  was  transferred  to  Macedonia  from  which  place  the 
revolutionary  elements  all  over  the  country  were  guided  and 
organized. 

The  concerted  secret  propaganda  found  so  much  favor- 
able response  from  classes  which  had  hitherto  made  sub- 
j^ mission  their  highest  ideal,  that  the  foreign  papers  often  had 
occasion,  in  1907,  to  report  the  startling  signs  of  "  unrest  " 
in  Turkey.  The  soldiers  revolted  in  many  places  and  asked 
^the  payment  of  their  salaries  in  arrears,  or  demanded  to  be 
sent  home  after  completing  the  time  of  military  service  re- 
quired by  law.  People  in  various  parts  of  Asia  Minor  rose 
^  to  ask  the  dismissal  of  unpopular  functionaries.  The  tax- 
payers who  had  suffered  for  generations  every  kind  of  op- 
^  pression  without  any  complaint  refused  to  pay  taxes,  unless 
they  were  to  be  spent  for  their  own  benefit.  The  inhabitants 
,  of  Erzeroum  declined  to  support  financially  the  construction 
of  a  railway  from  Damascus  to  the  holy  places  of  Islam,  on 
the  ground  that  the  railway  was  not  of  any  use  to  them- 
selves. The  fact  that  the  Sultan  was  planning  this  railway 
as  a  pious  act  which  would  secure  for  him  new  prestige  in 
the  Mohammedan  world,  did  not  seem  to  impress  the  people 
of  Erzeroum. 

The  change  of  attitude  was  startling.  It  meant  that  the 
efforts  of  the  Sultan  to  counteract,  through  an  artificial 
state  of  isolation,  the  effects  of  the  redistribution  of  energy 
brought  about  by  the  growing  contact  with  the  industrial 
civilization  of  the  West,  and  to  maintain  a  medieval  rule 
on  partly  modernized  ground,  had  failed,  even  among  the 
classes  supposed  to  be  fanatical  and  essentially  submissive. 

To  the  pressure  of  these  circumstances,  was  added  the 
fear  that  new  territorial  losses  were  imminent,  unless  rapid 
action  was  taken. 

And  the  Committee  of  Union  and  Progress  took  rapid 


85]  THE  HAMIDIAN  PERIOD  g^ 

action.  In  July  1908,  an  open  revolution  was  declared  in 
Macedonia.  After  trying  every  means  to  crush  it,  and  after 
assuring  himself  that  no  escape  was  possible,  the  Sultan 
yielded.  A  constitution  was  proclaimed,  and  a  new  situ- 
ation suddenly  arose  in  Turkey. 


CHAPTER  V 

The  Present  Era 

Part  I.    Developments  since  ipo8  and  their  Interpretation 

On  July  25,  1908,  the  dailies  of  Constantinople  had  an 
opportunity  to  make  amends  for  their  dubious  activity  of 
long  decades.  On  the  previous  day,  they  had  published, 
without  any  heading,  an  official  notice  of  three  lines,  to  the 
effect  that  orders  had  been  given  to  the  provincial  authorities 
to  make  arrangements  for  parliamentary  elections.  As  the 
great  mass  of  the  population  was  not  informed  about  the 
real  state  of  affairs,  the  satisfaction  which  the  news  created 
with  the  large  majority  did  not  find  any  immediate  ex- 
pression.    The  journalists,  to  whom  the  reading  of  foreign 

J  papers  was  permitted,  were  better  informed.  They  took 
the  first  steps  towards  stirring  up  the  people.  They  were 
instrumental  in  causing  some  timid  street  demonstrations, 
and  they  forced  the  proprietors  of  the  papers  to  decorate 
and  illuminate  the  office  buildings  as  a  sign  of  rejoicing. 
In  the  evening,  all  Ottoman  journalists  gathered  at  a  dinner 
to  discuss  the  situation,  and  to  lay  the  foundation  of  an 

V  "  Ottoman  Press  Association  ".  This  step  taken  on  the 
very  first  day  of  the  new  era  characterizes  the  state  of  mind 
created  by  the  sudden  change,  and  the  degree  of  its  pres- 
sure. Later,  when  the  situation  had  become  normal,  re- 
peated attempts  were  made  to  take  further  steps  in  organiz- 
ing a  press  association,  but  no  success  could  be  attained  be- 
yond drafting  a  constitution. 

86  [86 


Sy]  THE  PRESENT  ERA  87 

The  papers  which  appeared  on  July  25,  were  nothing  but 
a  fervent  outcry  of  joy.  The  censors  who  had  usually  had 
absolute  sway  in  newspaper  offices  were  even  refused  ad- 
mittance that  day.  Articles  were  published  by  popular 
writers  who  had  not  been  allowed  to  use  their  pens  for  many 
years. 

The  effect  was  amazing.  The  sleeping  city  became  at 
once  ablaze  with  excitement  and  enthusiasm.  The  streets, 
where  people  did  not  usually  even  feel  free  to  walk  fast, 
lest  they  attract  the  attention  of  spies,  were  filled  with 
noisy  crowds,  listening  joyfully  to  revolutionary  speeches, 
or  making  demonstrations  before  public  buildings,  news- 
paper offices,  and  foreign  embassies.  Excepting  towards 
the  leading  figures  of  the  fornier  government,  a  broad  spirit 
of  conciliation  was  displayed  in  every  respect.  People  be- 
longing to  different  races  and  creeds  who  had  always 
avoided  friendly  intercourse,  took  delight  in  fraternizing 
with  one  another.  Blame  for  the  unconciliatory  atti- 
tude they  formerly  showed  was  ascribed  to  the  policy  of  the 
old  government.  ''  We  loved  each  other,  but  the  despotic 
government  did  not  let  us  become  aware  of  it  ",  were  words 
to  be  heard  in  every  part  of  the  city,  on  that  first  day  of  en- 
thusiasm. 

Although  the  Ikdam  had  published  about  sixty  and  the 
Sahah  forty  thousand  copies,  the  demand  could  not  be  met.^ 
In  the  afternoon,  a  copy  of  the  Ikdam  which  was  priced 
only  one  cent,  could  not  be  obtained  from  the  newsboys 
for  less  than  forty  cents. 

In  the  following  days,  the  enthusiasm  kept  increasing, 
gaining  in  extent  and  intensity,  as  the  jubilant  voices  were 
echoed  from  every  part  of  the  empire,  and  from  foreign 
countries. 

A  general  craze  for  self-expression  seemed  to  spring  up. 
Every  one  was  inclined  to  celebrate  the  end  "  of  the  night- 


x/ 


88  THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  MODERN  TURKEY  [88 

mare  of  despotism  and  oppression  "  by  speaking  and  writ- 
ing in  abundance.  The  demonstrations  and  street  speeches 
were  continuous.  A  bulky  street  literature  in  pamphlets, 
pictures,  and  cartoons  was  created  over  night  and  found 
wide  circulation.  Within  a  few  weeks,  the  number  of  Turk- 
ish dailies  rose  from  three  to  as  many  as  fifteen.  A  new 
class  of  comic  publications  was  also'  established,  ranging 
betw^een  five  and  ten  in  number  during  the  first  months  of 
the  new  era.  The  number  of  publications  in  general  was 
highly  shifting.  Every  day  some  of  the  papers  disappeared 
to  give  place  to  new  ones.  Only  three  of  the  new  dailies 
were  edited  by  journalists  of  fame  and  proved  capable  of 
supporting  themselves,  after  the  emotional  outburst  gradu- 
ally died  away.  One  of  these  three,  the  Mizan  (Balance), 
consisted  of  only  four  small  pages,  and  contained  nothing 
beyond  the  personal  opinions  of  Mourad  Bey,  the  man  who 
had  played  a  prominent  part  in  the  Young  Turkish  move- 
ment. At  times,  this  paper  which  made  no  attempt  to  give 
news  had  a  larger  circulation  than  the  well-founded  news- 
papers. 

The  dailies  which  did  not  succeed  were  generally  founded 
by  men  without  any  business  experience,  who  had  simply 
followed  the  fashion  of  publishing  a  paper,  or  who  sought 
to  acquire  political  prominence  by  publicity.  Some  of  the 
more  zealous  men  of  enterprise  thought  that  papers  of  every 
shade  and  type,  to  be  found  in  Western  countries,  had  to 
exist  in  the  new  and  constitutional  Turkey,  to  render  her 
modern  equipment  complete.  They  accordingly  established 
papers  which  did  not  correspond  with  any  existing  need  or 
interest.  In  this  category  belonged  the  communistic  weekly 
called  Ishtiraqiie  (Communism)  which  had  this  old  Turkish 
proverb  as  a  motto :  "  One  eats,  one  looks, — there  the 
trouble  broods." 

The  tendency  for  covering  every  possible  line  of  pub- 


89]  THE  PRESENT  ERA  89 

licity  had,  at  the  same  time,  some  very  happy  results.  A 
monthly  review  on  economics  and  sociology  came  into 
existence  and  was  more  carefully  edited  and  printed  than  "^ 
many  of  the  similar  publications  in  other  countries.  There 
were  other  reviews  of  real  scientific  value  like  the  Istishare 
(Deliberation).  Interest  in  women  was  demonstrated 
through  the  weekly  Demette  (Bunch  of  Flowers),  and  the 
Mehassin  (Beauties),  an  extravagantly  published  il- 
lustrated monthly.  The  new  Mohammedan  attitude  of 
mind  towards  religion  found  expression  in  the  Cirat-i- 
Mustekim  (Bridge  of  Righteousness).  The  numerous  at- 
tempts to  publish  periodicals  of  a  purely  literary  character 
failed.  Popular  illustrated  magazines  were  more  fortun- 
ate. Besides  the  Servet-i^Funoun,  which  was  published 
under  the  old  regime,  the  Ressimli  Kitab  ( Illustrated  Maga- 
zine), Shehhal  (The  longest  pinion  in  a  bird's  wing),  and 
Kalem  (Pen)  gained  great  success  and  popularity.  The 
Kalem  was  a  humorous  publication  of  great  artistic  value 
and  elegance  of  wit.  This  was  in  strong  contrast  to  the  rest 
of  the  similar  publications  which  had  to  a  great  extent,  a 
vulgar  tone  and  which  tried  to  appeal  to  people  who  could 
not  even  follow  and  understand  the  daily  papers. 

Another  group  of  publications  consisted  of  the  organs 
of  different  societies  of  a  professional  character,  and  of 
different  sections  of  the  student  body.  Almost  simultan- 
eously, there  appeared  organs  for  painters,  architects,  chem- 
ists, veterinary  surgeons,  physicians,  lawyers,  writers  of 
different  schools,  actors,  workingmen,  government  officials, 
former  political  exiles,  alumni  of  the  Civil  Service  School, 
and  students.  Nearly  all  of  them  w^ere  short-lived.*-  The 
organizations  they  represented  were  not  more  fortunate  in 
duration  and  stability.  The  motive  behind  them  was  not 
an  innate,  but  only  an  imitative  one.  It  was  simply  hoped 
that  progress  in  a  Western  sense  could  be  realized  by  adopt- 


90  THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  MODERN  TURKEY  [qq 

ing,  without  much  critical  examination,  the  forms  and  de- 
tails of  organizations  which  seemed  to  be  the  cause  for  the 
superiority  of  the  West. 

The  procedure  followed  in  every  case — whether  the  so- 
ciety had  to  serve  a  public  interest,  a  professional  purpose, 
or  a  business  undertaking — was  identical:  the  first  thing 
done  was  to  find  a  brilliant  name,  then,  a  constitution  was 
^  drafted,  which  was  in  many  cases,  a  translation  of  constitu- 
tions of  similar  organizations  in  foreign  countries.  The 
next  step  taken  was  a  more  or  less  pompous  inauguration 
ceremony.  The  further  life  of  the  societies,  depended 
mostly  on  the  existence  or  non-existence  of  a  meeting-place. 
Those  fortunate  enough  to  secure  a  meeting-place,  had  a 
varying  number  of  meetings,  gradually  declining  in  enthus- 
iasm and  interest.  Not  even  one,  however,  of  the  hasty  or- 
J  ganizations  created  during  the  first  months  of  the  new  era, 
could  survive.  Their  great  number  is  an  index  to  the  good 
intentions  and  desire  for  activity  produced  through 
the  sudden  political  change;  their  failure,  on  the  other 
hand,  demonstrates  lack  of  deliberative  like-mindedness  and 
possibility  of  co-operation  even  among  people  who  were 
drawn  together  by  purposes  and  interests  which  they  deemed 
to  be  so  strong  as  to  warrant  a  formal  organization. 
There  are  certain  elements  to  be  considered  in  order  to 
understand,  why  there  was  so  much  effort  displayed  in  pub- 
"-  lications  and  organizations,  and  why  so  little  success  could 
be  achieved.  In  the  first  place,  the  ready  example  of  the 
West  had  so  coercive  an  authority  upon  the  minds  of  the 
people  that  critical  thinking  and  action  according  to  the 
existing  circumstances  were  hampered.  Secondly,  the  pres- 
sure, both  external  and  internal,  demanding  an  immediate 
regeneration  could  not,  within  the  existing  limits  of  equip- 
ment and  organization,  find  other  response  than  a  change  in 
form  and  name.   ,  Thirdly,  the  Turkish  elements  of  popula- 


91  ]  THE  PRESENT  ERA  9I 

tion,  as  such,  were  the  only  ones  in  the  country  acutely  in- 
terested in  the  welfare  of  the  empire,  although  many  in- 
dividuals from  other  elements  shared  this  interest.     The 
Turks  paid  for  their  interest  and  for  their  position  as  a 
ruling  race,  very  dearly  and  in  manifold  ways.     For  cen- 
turies in  successive  wars,  they  had  lost  their  best  and  most 
courageous.     In  the  struggle  against  authority,  after  the 
process  of  adaptation  to  Western  ideas  had  begun,  their 
most  enlightened  and  enterprising  men  were  eliminated. 
The  great  mass  of  the  population,  although  oppressed  by  a  ^ 
palace  camarilla  consisting  mostly  of  non-Turks,  had  the 
consciousness,  if  not  the  position,  of  a  ruling  race.     The 
majority  of  this  population  expected  the  government  to 
do   everything   for  them:   to   supply  them  with   salaried   *" 
positions,  to  educate  them,  to  take  care  of  their  health, 
to     furnish    them    with    seeds    and    agricultural    imple-  -^ 
ments.       Consequently    the    Turkish    elements    did    not 
have  opportunity  for  individual  initiative,  and  could  not  i^ 
gather  experiences  which  would  enable  them  to  face  a  new 
situation.     This  deficiency  was  the  price  paid  for  the  sur- 
vival of  the  empire,  which  was  constantly  threatened  from 
without  and  by  a  majority  of  the  non-Turkish  population,!-^ 
both  Moslem  and  Christian,  from  within,  and  the  very  exist- 
ence of  which  had  become  a  miracle  in  the  eyes  of  every 
foreign  observer  for  more  than  two  centuries. 

A  race  which  had  given  all  its  energy  for  survival  and 
was,  in  consequence,  obliged  to  be  satisfied  with  living  eco- 
nomically, and  with  sacrifice  of  individual  enjoyments,  un-    . 
der  the  strict  sceptre  of  authority,  could  not  afford  to  live, 
for  any  length  of  time,  without  following  a  dominating  in-   ^ 
fluence.     There  was  no  alternative  in  the  new  era.     The 
nature  of  events  assigned  to  the  Committee  of  Union  and  t> 
Progress  the  role  of  control.    The  change  brought  about  by 
the  Committee  was  of  great  importance  for  all  those  who 


92  THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  MODERN  TURKEY  [92 

were  not  personally  interested  in  the  old  system.  With  a 
single  stroke  it  had  done  away  with  all  those  imposed  re- 
strictions against  development  and  betterment  which  did  not 
lie  in  the  nature  of  the  social  situation.  For  the  people  in 
general,  the  success  of  the  Committee  meant  much  more 
than  this.  They  saw  in  it,  not  the  opening  of  opportunities 
for  change  and  betterment,  but  betterment  itself.   Therefore, 

/there  can  be  no  wonder  that  the  "sacred"  Committee  was 
deified  by  a  large  section  of  the  people.  They  developed  a 
Committee-mindedness  and  a  Committee  faith,  which  did 

^  not  admit  opposition  and  was  in  most  instances  incapable 
of  critical  consideration.     On  account  of  this  fact,  and  on 

^  account  of  the  secret  and  attractive  initiation  ceremony,  and 
the  prestige  and  advantages  connected  with  membership 
in  the  Committee,  it  could  succeed  highly  as  an  organiza- 
tion. Branches  were  organized  in  every  part  of  the  coun- 
try with  the  aid  of  government  authority. 

For  some  time,  there  was  nothing  to  disturb  the  existing 
harmony.  The  people  were  busy  with  elections,  which  were 
made  occasions  of  great  festivity.  Pompous  processions 
were  formed  to  carry  the  ballot  boxes  through  the  city. 

J  The  main  features  of  such  processions  were  a  Mohammedan 
theologian  with  his  white  turban  and  a  Christian  priest  in 
his  black  garb  sitting  together  in  a  carriage.     This  was  the 

^  accepted  symbol  of  equality  and  "  unity  of  elements ". 
The  general  public  which  had  demonstrated  its  interest  for 

^  change,  in  changing  the  names  of  streets,  schools,  business 
concerns,  shops,  and  in  making  a  wide  display  of  the  na- 
tional colors,  cheerfully  made  this  contribution  to  the  new 
^  idea  that  all  Ottomans,  without  distinction  of  race  and 
creed,  should  form  an  undivided  and  harmonious  whole. 
What  they  did,  looked  to  them  like  real  and  lasting  achieve- 
ment. Gaining  such  great  ends  pleasurably  and  at  a  low 
cost,  however,  gave  everybody  so  perfect  a  satisfaction  that 


93]  THE  PRESENT  ERA  q3 

disappointment  in  a  corresponding  degree  was  bound  to 
follow. 

The  declaration  of  Bulgarian  independence  and  the  an- 
nexation of  Bosnia  and  Herzegovina  by  Austria  were  made 
new  occasions  for  patriotic  demonstration.  A  well-or- 
ganized retaliatory  action  was  taken  in  the  form  of  a  boy- 
cott of  Austrian  and  Bulgarian  goods.  Even  the  red  fez, 
the  national  headgear,  which  was  largely  manufactured  in 
Austria  was  given  up  in  this  struggle,  although,  hitherto,  the 
slightest  modification  in  the  shape  and  color  of  the  head- 
dress had  not  been  tolerated.  This  action,  although  essen- 
tially impulsive  in  character,  contained  elements  unpre- 
cedented in  Turkish  life.  It  meant  resorting  to  self -aid  by 
people  who  were  accustomed  to  expect  somebody  else,  their 
own  government,  or  foreign  powers,  to  act  for  them. 

The  territorial  losses  involved  in  the  two  incidents  were 
only  nominal.     As  the  people  were  extremely  sensitive  re-x^ 
garding  any  kind  of  territorial  loss,  the  dissatisfaction  was 
still  very  great,  when  the  two  accomplished  facts  were  sanc- 
tioned by  the  government  through  a  wise  compromise. 

There  were  also  other  potential  causes  for  dissatisfaction 
in  this  era.     The  regime  of  equality  had  put  an  end  to  cer-  ^, 
tain  privileges  of  nearly  every  element.     Especially  the  in- 
habitants of  the  capital,  who  had  been  systematically  fav- 
ored and  spoiled  by  the  Sultan,  had  to  pay  taxes  and  do^' 
military  service.      Furthermore,  government  employment 
was  threatening  to  cease  to  be  the  general  source  of  sub-  ^ 
sistence. 

The  reorganization  of  the  state  departments  had  caused 
to  be  driven  out  hundreds  of  functionaries  who  were  in-  ^ 
capable  of  making  use,  in  the  way  of  business  enterprises, 
of  the  cash  indemnity  paid  to  them. 

To  the  number  of  discontents  produced  by  this  state  of 
affairs,  were  added  ambitious  men  who  did  not  want  to  play 


94  THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  MODERN  TURKEY  [94 

■^  a  less  important  role  than  those  in  power,  nationalists  be- 
-^longing  to  the  non-Turkish  races,  religious  fanatics  who 
were  frightened  by  the  sudden  changes  of  the  new  era,  and 
far-seeing  patriots  who  could  not  approve  of  the  secret  ac- 
tivity of  the  Committee  of  "  Union  and  Progress  ",  and  its 
interference  with  the  activity  of  responsible  government 
officials. 

The  more  or  less  forced  downfall  of  the  government  of 
J  Kiamil  Pasha,  on  February  14,  1909,  aggravated  the  situ- 
ation more  and  more,  and  made  the  approach  of  some  kind 
of  crisis  imminent  The  Sultan,  who  had  been  left  on  his 
throne  in  order  to  avoid  trouble,  did  not  hesitate  to  take 
advantage  of  the  situation  through  every  possible  kind  of 
intrigue.  He  gave  particular  attention  to  securing  influ- 
ence with  the  press.  His  aim  was  directed  to  upholding  the 
lack  of  restrictions  to  the  activity  of  the  press,  and  weaken- 
ing every  existing  kind  of  control,  and  to  creating  anarchy. 

It  was  easy  to  agitate  along  this  line,  because  the  press 
y  and  a  large  section  of  the  readers  were  blindly  jealous  of  the 
liberties  of  speech  and  assemblage.  In  many  instances,  the 
courts  were  incapable  of  taking  action  against  incriminated 
newspapers,  because  the  public  sympathy  was  strongly  on  the 
side  of  the  press.  It  is  remarkable  that  the  press  did  not 
abuse  its  freedom  as  much  as  it  might  have  done.  Although 
people  of  a  dubious  character  had  found  access  to  the  press, 
personal  attacks  and  blackmailing  were  relatively  limited 
in  amount.  The  prejudice  against  having  matters  of  a 
strictly  personal  nature,  especially  family  affairs  given  pub- 
licity had  a  strong  restraining  effect. 

When  the  parliament  proceeded  to  pass  a  press  law  which 
^  was  a  mere  translation  of  the  most  liberal  West-European 
laws,  an  outcry  of  protest  arose  throughout  the  country. 
The  people  were  fond  of  resorting  on  every  possible  occa- 
sion to  their  new  diversion  of  holding  public  meetings, 


95]  THE  PRESENT  ERA  95 

listening  to  fervid  speeches,  and  wiring  to  the  competent 
authorities,  and  to  the  press  their  resolutions  of  protest. 
Demonstrations  of  this  kiiid  took  place  in  great  numbers  to  i^ 
defend  the  "  full  liberty  of  the  press." 

As  a  result  of  the  license  arising  from  this  state  of  af- 
fairs, the  press  reflected  openly,  or  in  a  disguised  way,  the   ^ 
different  contending  currents,  and  interests. 

Already,  at  the  beginning  of  the  new  era,  an  artificial 
differentiation    in   political    ideas   and   theories   had   been   ^ 
sought.     The  papers  had  felt  obliged  to  adopt  arbitrarily 
the  lines  of  division  existing  in  the  European  press.     They 
had  become  radical,  liberal,  moderate,  conservative,  and  so  ^ 
on.     This  part  of  the  rules  of  the  constitutional  game, 
however,   soon  passed.     The  main   line  of   division  pro- 
duced by  the  existing  circumstances  simply  consisted  of   v 
blind  adherence  and  blind  opposition  to  the  Committee  of, 
Union  and  Progress,  with  a  small,  but  increasing  number  ^ 
of    advocates  of    compromise.      As    the    greater   part   of 
the  population  at  the  capital  had  reasons  for  being  dis- 
satisfied, all  the  Constantinople  papers  with  the  exception    ^^ 
of  two  or  three  owned  or  directly  controlled  by  the  Com- 
mittee, became  opposition  papers  of   varying  degrees  of 
bitterness.     The  press  of  European  Turkey  was  on  the  side    ^ 
of  the  Committee.     Especially  the  papers  published  in  the 
regions  where  the  Revolution  had  originally  started,  used 
merciless  language  against  their  opponents  in  Constanti- 
nople, and  very  strongly  condemned  "  the  intrigues  woven 
in  the  miserable  environment  of  old  Byzantium."    The  press 
of  Asia  Minor  was  divided  in  its  allegiance  to  the  con-  ^ 
tending  parties. 

Both  sides  consisted  of  heterogeneous  elements,  having 
only  the  feeling  of,  and  reason  for,  mutual  opposition  in 
common.  Officially,  the  chief  point  in  contest  was  the  de- 
gree of  local  self-government  to  be  given  to  the  provinces. 


gS  THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  MODERN  TURKEY  [96 

Both  parties  used  unfair  methods  to  injure  each  other, 
methods  which  were  often  contrary  to  the  customs  of  the 
country.  Those  who  objected,  were  simply  told  that  poli- 
^  tical  parties  in  Europe,  especially  America,  regularly  used 
such  methods,  and  that  they  were  consequently  part  of  the 
game.  This  argument  had  such  an  authoritative  effect  on 
people's  minds  that  it  could  be  used  to  sanction  any  kind 
of  abuse.  A  curious  instance  of  this  was  the  toleration  dis- 
played regarding  the  fanatical  agitation  of  a  daily  called 
Volcano  and  secretly  supported  by  the  palace.  Although 
the  dangers  connected  with  such  an  agitation  were  clearly 
^  perceived,  no  action  was  taken  against  the  Volcano,  because 
"  there  existed  clerical  papers  of  the  same  nature  in  France 
and  other  European  countries."  On  the  same  grounds  the 
organization  and  public  demonstrations  of  a  reactionary 
Mohammedan  League  were  tolerated. 

The  atmosphere  of  Constantinople  seemed  to  be  full  of 
explosives.  In  different  parts  of  the  provinces  also,  there 
had  always  been  some  kind  or  other  of  trouble  and  revolt. 
/'T^ack  of  control  was  noticeable  everywhere.  The  extrava- 
gant waste  of  energy  and  the  resulting  social  deficit  prepared 
a  situation  where  strong  and  restrictive  action  was  bound 
to  appear. 

On  April  5,  1909,  Hassan  Fehmi,  the  editor  of  the  opposi- 
•^  tion  daily  Serbesti,  was  mysteriously  shot  on  the  street.  The 
public  was  inclined  to  ascribe  the  act  to  the  Committee 
of  Union  and  Progress.  There  could  be  no  better  basis 
for  reactionary  agitation  against  the  government.  The  ex- 
citement soon  reached  a  climax. 

On  April  14,  Constantinople  awoke  to  find  the  city  under 

v^    the   control   of   military   insurgents,   who   had   previously 

driven  away  their  officers  and  held  a  huge  meeting  to  press 

their  demands.     The  whole  thing  was  made  to  look  like 

impulsive  mob  action.     "  We  want  the  religious  law  to  be 


97]  THE  PRESENT  ERA  gy 

applied."     "We  want  an  all-powerful  Sultan:  every  herd 
must  have  a  shepherd",  were  slogans  passing  from  mouth 
to  mouth.     In  reality,  the  movement  was  well  organized,  , 
and  kept  under  control  all  the  time.     There  was  almost  no 
instance  of  pillage  or  excess,  although  thousands  of  armed 
soldiers  went  about  in  the  streets  for  ten  days.     The  leaders 
had  been  bribed  by  the  palace,  and  they  managed  the  mutiny  *^ 
with  great  skill.     The  only  outrage  committed  was  the 
destruction  of  the  offices  of  the  Shonra^yi-Ummett  (Na-' 
tion's  Platform),  a  well-edited  paper  with  a  large  staff  of 
expert  and  prominent  journalists,  published  directly  by  the 
Committee,  and  of  the  Tanin  (Echo),  another  influential 
daily,  which  had  voluntarily  taken  sides  with  the  Committee. 

The  population  of  the  capital,  and  to  a  great  extent  even 
the  press,  were  deceived,  and  took  the  event  for  a  demonstra-  <^ 
tion  against  the  Committee  rule,  and  for  better  and  more 
liberal  government.  This  view  had  at  least  to  be  expressed 
by  the  papers,  which  were  every  day  visited  and  menaced 
by  armed  soldiers,  who  commented  upon  the  contents  of  the 
day's  issue,  and  gave  instructions  for  the  coming  number. 

The  provinces  thought  differently  about  it.  Many  of 
them  severed  their  allegiance  to  the  Constantinople  govern- 
ment, and  within  a  week  a  Young  Turkish  army  was  within  ^ 
reach  of  Constantinople.  The  members  of  the  Parliament 
retired  to  the  army  headquarters  to  sit  as  a  "  National 
Assembly  ". 

Meanwhile,  the  press  of  Constantinople  had  a  week  of 
vivid  days  and  nights.  Every  move  of  the  army  relieved  it  < 
more  and  more  from  the  pressure  of  the  soldiery  to  which  it 
had  been  subjected.  Although  the  armed  insurgents  were 
still  masters  of  the  city,  the  papers  soon  felt  free  enough 
to  discontinue  their  flattering  tone.  Later  they  began  to  re- 
mind the  soldiers  of  the  possibility  of  a  Bulgarian  invasion, 
in  case  they  did  not  lay  down  their  amis.     Their  tone  took 


98  THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  MODERN  TURKEY  [gg 

a  warning  and  aggressive  turn.  The  same  procedure  was 
followed  regarding  the  Sultan  himself.  During  the  first 
days  of  the  military  Counter-Revolution,  there  were  papers 
which  used  in  regard  to  him  almost  the  old-time  phraseology 
and  gave  him  a  long  list  of  deifying  titles.     When  the  news 

^  reached  the  capital,  that  arrangements  were  made  for  action 
against  the  city,  he  began  to  be  spoken  of  simply  as  "  our 
Sultan  ".     As  soon  as  the  army  came  near  Constantinople, 

''  the  "  palace  finger  "  and  the  "  palace  intrigues  "  were  made 
subjects  of  daring  remarks.  At  last,  when  the  city  was 
regularly  besieged,  the  papers  affirmed  that  "  the  great  sym- 

^bol  of  oppression  and  despotism  was  no  more  capable  of 
further  harmdoing."  The  Serhesti  (Liberty),  the  editor 
of  which  had  been  the  journalist  mysteriously  killed  only 
two  weeks  before,  and  which  had  openly  accused  the  Young 
Turks  of  the  act,  now  expressed  the  belief  that  its  editor 
had  undoubtedly  been  killed  by  the  palace  adherents  in  order 

^  to  cast  suspicion  upon  the  Young  Turkish  Committee  and 
mislead  public  opinion.  In  spite  of  this  changing  attitude 
some  of  the  opposition  journalists  found  it  safer  to  keep 
at  large  by  flight  before  the  revolutionary  army  entered 
the  city. 

On  April  25,  Constantinople  was  already  in  the  hands 

,,  of  the  Young  Turks.  The  Sultan  was  immediately  deposed 
in  accordance  with  the  decision  of  the  national  assembly  and 
of  a  fatva  of  the  Sheik-ul-Islam,  charging  him  with 
specific  cases  of  cruelty  and  oppression. 

The  first  part  of  the  experiment  was  now  over.  The  man 
whose  existence  influenced  the  situation  unduly  was  elimin- 
ated from  the  field.  What  was  to  come  would  be  a  product 
of  existing  circumstances,  as  modified  by  the  authority  of 

,  foreign  example,  national  traditions,  and  the  experiences 
of  one  year  of  free  and  constitutional  government. 

The  new  era  marked  the  beginning  of  the  end  of  the 


99]  THE  PRESENT  ERA  99 

Young  Turkish  idealism.  Instead  of  sticking  to  the  letter  of 
paper  laws  and  the  ideas  of  "liberty,  equality  and  frater- 
nity," constitutional  rights  were  suspended  through  extra- 
ordinary measures,  a  state  of  siege  was  proclaimed,  and^ 
control  by  direct  force,  instead  or  by  impression  and 
prestige,  was  sought.  This  has  been  alm.ost  uninterrupt- 
edly the  constitutional  status  of  the  county  ever  since,  al- 
though its  vigor  went  up  and  down  rhythmically,  to  a  great 
extent  through  the  interference  of  external  dangers. 

The  new  government  held  the  press  responsible  for  the^ 
outbreak  on  April   13,   1909.     Accordingly,  the  majority 
of  the  opposition  papers  were  suppressed,  and  most  of  the  ^ 
members  of  their  staff  exiled.     Those  w^ho  had  saved  them- 
selves by  flight  to  Europe  were  condemned  in   absentia. 
For  some  time  opposition  disappeared. 

It  did  not  take  long  to  reappear  however.  Violent  op- 
position was  carried  on  through  papers  published  in  Paris 
by  political  fugitives.  The  Turkish  papers  at  home  used 
the  margin  of  freedom  left  to  them,  to  complain  in  a  sharper 
and  sharper  tone  of  the  lack  of  abundant  freedom.  They 
were  often  suspended,  but  they  soon  found  a  way  to  get 
around  the  difficulty.  When  they  were  suspended,  they 
simply  reappeared  the  next  day  under  a  new  name,  re- 
sembling as  closely  as  possible  the  original  name.  If  in  ad- 
dition, the  responsible  editor  had  to  go  to  prison,  the  life 
of  the  paper  was  not  affected,  because  he  was  not  a  regu- 
lar member  of  the  staff.  He  was  just  paid  to  go  to 
prison  when  necessary,  and  it  was  not  hard  to  find  a  new 
"  prison  editor."  The  situation  was  closely  similar  to  the 
conditions  in  the  French  press,  under  the  second  Empire. 

In  spite  of  the  protests  of  some  of  the  papers,  the  mili- 
tary regime  proved  efficient,  and  productive  of  constructive 
work,  as  long  as  it  was  able  to  maintain  itself.  The  parlia- 
ment worked  with  great  zeal  and  passed,  within  a  short 


v^ 


lOO    THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  MODERN  TURKEY       [iqo 

time,  a  long  list  of  laws.  Every  branch  of  government 
was  in  full  activity.  Special  attention  was  given  to  public 
instruction,  and  a  large  number  of  students  were  sent 
abroad. 

Unfortunately  there  were  elements  in  the  situation  which 
began  to  temper  the  maintenance  of  a  perfect  and  har- 
monious control,  as  soon  as  the  overwhelming  impression 
produced  by  the  happenings  of  April  1909,  lost  its  freshness 
and  its  vigor.  The  main  element  of  weakness  consisted  in 
the  fact  that  the  real  authority  rested  with  the  irresponsible 
secret  Committee  and  not  with  responsible  agencies.  As  a 
consequence  of  the  interference  and  secret  and  personal  acts 
of  the  Committee,  the  military  regime  soon  began  to  lose 
the  prestige  and  support  it  enjoyed. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  Counter-revolution  of  April  13, 
1909,  had  confirmed  the  idea  of  the  Committee  leaders 
that  they,  as  the  originators  of  the  Revolution  of  1908,  had 
to  watch  over  the  destinies  of  the  Empire  and  save  it  from 
all  destructive  tendencies.  To  be  able  to  play  such  a  role, 
power  and  influence  were  considered  necessary.     The  meth- 

.  ods  followed  by  the  dethroned  Sultan  to  gain  power  were 
still  fresh  in  the  minds  as  tempting  examples.      Uncon- 

^  sciously  the  Committee  leaders  began  to  follow  them  more 
and  more  closely,  but  with  the  great  difference  that  the 
Young  Turks  were  sincere,  and  to  a  great  extent,  disinter- 
ested and  self-sacrificing  patriots,  who  were,  even  in  their 
gravest  blunders  and  mistakes,  influenced  more  by  their 
over-zealous  patriotism  than  by  a  conscious  lust  of  power. 

^  Full  advantage  was  taken  of  the  impressive  effect  of  secrecy 
and  mystery.  Religion  was  used  as  a  basis  of  agitation  to 
secure  popularity.  Worst  of  all  a  blind  and  aggressive 
/Turkish  imperialism  became  the  dominating  motive  of  the 
Committee's  policy.  ■  Phrases  like  "  Ottomanism  ",  and  the 
*'  unity  of  all  elements  of  population  in  Turkey  without  dis- 


lOi]  THE  PRESENT  ERA  lOl 

tinction  of  creed  and  religion  "  were  still  cited ;  but  the 
meaning  given  to  them  was  no  longer  the  meeting  of  the 
different  elements  on  a  common  and  neutral  ground  through 
mutual  sacrifice  as  citizens  of  the  Ottoman  Empire  pos- 
sessing equal  rights.  They  were  simply  assumed  ta^ 
mean  assimilating  the  non-Turkish  elements  of  the 
population  through  coercive  methods,  if  necessary.  The 
conclusions  prompting  the  recourse  to  coercive  meth- 
ods were  generally  reached  through  abstract  reasoning 
as  to  the  rights  and  duties  of  the  citizens  of  a  state 
in  general,  disregarding  the  existing  circumstances  and 
handicaps.  Such  a  policy  could  not  work.  It  served  only 
to  strengthen  the  artificial  barriers  between  the  Turks  and 
the  non-Turks  who  had  become  closely  similar  in  their  folk- 
ways and  habits  as  a  result  of  common  environment  and 
centuries  of  intercourse.  Through  a  tactful  and  concilia- 
tory policy,  a  working  degree  of  goodwill  and  co-operation  ^ 
might  easily  have  been  established  between  them,  and  a 
great  amount  of  conflict  and  waste  avoided.  Instead,  the 
harsh  policy  followed,  produced  repeated  revolts  in  Albania  ^ 
and  other  parts  of  the  Empire,  the  pitiless  oppression  of 
which  brought  about  great  losses  in  life  and  property.  A 
large  majority  of  non-Turkish  elements  became  more  ag-  ^ 
gressively  hostile  than  they  had  been  previously,  to  the  very 
existence  of  the  empire. 

This  tactless  attitude  was  also  extended  to  foreign  re-  ^ 
lations.  Although  the  Island  of  Crete  had  long  been  lost  to 
Turkey,  the  right  of  hoisting  a  Turkish  flag  at  Suda  Bay  . 
being  the  only  remaining  trace  of  Turkish  dominion,  and 
although  there  was  no  hope  of  winning  back  more  positive 
rights  of  sovereignity,  a  tremendous  agitation  was  made  for 
the  sake  of  the  island.  Emotional  appeals  were  made  and 
meetings  called  everywhere  to  affirm  that  "  thirty  million 
Ottomans  would  rather  die  together  than  give  up  an  inch 


I02    THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  MODERN  TURKEY       [102 

of  that  sacred  and  dear  soil."  The  papers  were  full  of  pa- 
triotic telegrams  from  every  part  of  the  Empire  competing 
with  each  other  in  the  vigor  of  their  language.  Crete  was 
made  an  idol  which  ate  up  all  the  energies  and  all  the  en- 
thusiasm the  people  could  devote  to  public  matters.  As  the 
great  majority  of  the  Turkish  population  was  extremely  sen- 
sitive regarding  territorial  gains  and  losses,  the  words  spent, 
and  reflected  through  public  channels,  in  behalf  of  the 
"  sacred  "  island,  gave  everybody  a  deep  sense  of  satisfac- 
tion and  achievement  at  an  extremely  low  cost.  Besides, 
the  emotions  systematically  worked  up  and  intensified 
through  every  possible  social  agency,  produced  a  subjective 
atmosphere  of  self-confidence  and  feeling  of  invincibility 
and  power,  which  made  public  opinion  assume  an  attitude 
of  challenge  to  neighboring  states,  and  even  to  great  powers. 
The  imperialistic  and  self -deceiving  tendencies  were  re- 
flected in  a  very  aggressive  way  in  a  group  of  papers  which 
sprang  up  in  the  parts  of  European  Turkey  where  the 
Revolution  of  1908  first  broke  out.  They  were  published 
v'  by  retired  army  officers  and  ex-revolutionaries,  and  bore 
names  like  "  Weapon  ",  "  Sword  ",  "  Bayonet  ",  "  Bullet  ", 
and  "  Thunderbolt ".  These  few  words,  published  by  the 
SUah  (Weapon)  ^  as  an  answer  to  an  article  of  a  Bulgarian 
semi-oflicial  paper,  advocating  friendly  relations  with 
Turkey  are  characteristic  of  the  attitude  of  this  type  of  pub- 
lications : 

We  can  become  friends  with  whomever  we  desire  to.  Only 
we  cannot  make  friends  with  Bulgarians,  as  long  as  they  con- 
tinue to  be  mere  brigands.  Lions  can  associate  themselves  only 
with  tigers.  A  nation  composed  of  lions,  a  great  power,  can- 
not become  the  friend  of  a  cat  youngster  like  Bulgaria. 

Although  chauvinistic  conceit  had  been  manifested  on 

*  Salonica,  September  12,  191 1. 


103]  ^^^  PRESENT  ERA  XO3 

several  occasions  by  the  Turkish  press  in  general,  its 
development  to  such  a  degree  and  in  such  a  tone  was 
unprecedented,  and  constituted  an  extreme  deviation 
from  the  habitual  tolerant  attitude  of  the  Turkish 
mind.  Such  conditions  were  alarming  signs  of  social 
peril,  if  not  of  social  degeneration.  In  a  country  without 
proper  schemes  of  organization  and  at  the  margin  of  social 
deficit,  the  combination  of  a  wasteful  imperialistic  policy 
with  opportunities  and  pressure  for  individualistic  self- 
betterment  and  a  relatively  large  measure  of  free  discus- 
sion was  bound  to  have  fatal  effects.  It  is  futile  to  hold  the 
leaders  of  the  Committee  or  anybody  else  responsible  for  the 
situation.  In  a  state  of  instability,  and  a  widespread 
struggle  for  survival,  there  was  small  place  for  rational  and 
deliberative  men.  The  circumstances  were  such  as  to  put 
forward  daring  men  of  action  of  ideo-emotional  and 
dogmatic-emotional  types  as  the  real  leaders.  Where  no 
binding  traditions,  tested  experience  and  inter-acting  or- 
ganizations, existed,  and  the  right  way  had  to  be  found 
through  experiment,  leaders  of  that  type,  even  if  they  were 
self-denying  and  sincere  men,  were  likely  to  commit  arbi- 
trary and  irresponsible  acts  and  grave  mistakes. 

As  a  consequence,  the  moderate  and  deliberative  ele- 
ments began  to  desert  the  Committee's  ranks  and  join 
hands  with  the  elements  who  had  varying  reasons  for  dis- 
content. In  the  parliament  which  originally  consisted  of 
the  Committee's  candidates,  the  opposition  factions  se- 
cured a  working  majority.  They  organized  themselves  as 
the  party  of  Liberal  Union.  It  soon  became  apparent,  how- 
ever, that  the  new  party  was  not  different  from  its  oppo- 
nents in  its  composition  and  tactics.  In  order  to  secure  a 
great  numerical  success,  even  people  who  had  never  gained 
access  to  the  ranks  of  the  Committee  were  enlisted  as 
adherents.     Irresponsible  elements  became  more  and  more 


I04         THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  MODERN  TURKEY       [104 

prominent,  and  a  worse  sort  of  political  fanaticism  and  in- 
tolerance was  developed  than  was  formerly  attributed  to 
the  Committee. 

The  animosity  between  the  two  parties  was  extremely 
strong.  Each  side  considered  the  opponents  traitors  who 
had  only  their  personal  interests  at  heart,  and  who  were 
capable  of  destroying  the  country  to  further  their  personal 
ambitions.  On  July  29,  1909,  Samim  Bey,  of  the  Sedayi- 
Millet  (Voice  of  the  People),  a  paper  published  by  Cos- 
midis  Effendi,  one  of  the  Greek  deputies  for  Constantinople^ 
and  on  July  11,  191 1,  Zekki  Bey,  who  was  a  contributor  to 
Alemdar  (Standard  Bearer),  were  mysteriously  shot  in  the 
streets,  after  being  warned  and  threatened  beforehand  by 
anonymous  letters.  The  excesses  in  the  provinces  were 
general  and  more  numerous.  Those  suspected  of  holding 
views  in  opposition  to  the  Committee,  or  of  simply  reading 
papers  of  the  opposition,  such  as  Yeni-Gasetta  and  Ikdam, 
especially  Alemdar  and  Tansimat  were  subjected  in  many 
instances,  to  violence  and  maltreatment.  Although  the  gov- 
ernment showed  a  mark  of  favor  to  the  press  in  1909  by 
exempting  it  from  the  postal  monopoly  and  thus  enabling 
the  papers  to  make  their  shipments  to  the  provinces  at  regu- 
lar freight  rates,  only  government  papers  such  as  Tanin 
and  the  independent  Sabah  could  take  full  advantage  of  this 
favor,  as  the  opposition  papers  were  barred  out  by  the 
Committee  branch  organizations,  and  the  dependent  local 
governments,  from  most  parts  of  the  country.  It  is 
of  interest  to  note  that  those  who  were  so  aggressively 
intolerant  of  criticism  and  opposition,  maintained  on  every 
occasion  that  criticism  and  opposition  were  the  essential 
elements  of  constitutional  government;  they  often  cited  the 
words  of  the  popular  writer  Kemal  Bey  to  the  effect  that 
"  the  sparkle  of  truth  is  produced  only  by  a  conflict  of 
ideas."  What  they  could  not  tolerate,  they  asserted,  was 
the  particular  kind  of  criticism  existing  in  Turkey. 


1 05]  THE  PRESENT  ERA  I05 

The  rational  and  moderate  elements,  foreseeing  that 
violence  and  oppression  could  only  cause  explosive  feelings 
to  accummulate,  which  would  burst  out  some  day  at  the  cost 
of  the  country,  protested  against  the  existing  state  of  af- 
fairs and  made  repeated  attempts  to  bring  about  a  com- 
promise. 

The  old  publicist  Ebouz-Zia  Bey,  officially  a  member  of 
the  government  party  in  the  parliament,  made  the  following 
utterance  in  the  weekly  he  published : 

There  is  an  old  proverb  in  Turkish,  "  strong  vinegar  eats  up 
its  own  dish  ".  This  proverb  will  verify  itself  in  regard  to  the 
government  and  her  violent  press  policy.  It  must  be  under- 
stood that  the  press  is  a  very  dangerous  thing  to  play  with.  If 
the  stream  of  public  opinion  is  brought  to  overflow,  every 
effort  to  narrow  its  channel  increases  its  force,  and  makes  it 
carry  away  those  who  are  responsible.  We  would  not  pity 
them  for  getting  their  well  deserved  punishment,  unless  we 
had  to  think  of  our  unfortunate  country  which  needs  peace 
and  rest. 

Among  these  attempts  to  bring  about  compromise  and 
moderation,  the  most  conspicuous  was  the  association  es- 
tablished by  a  number  of  university  graduates  for  the  pur- 
pose of  producing  rational  currents  of  opinion  by  scientific 
methods,  and  thus  removing  the  unsound  and  harmful  ele- 
ments from  the  situation.  Considering  it  necessary  to  give 
the  people,  first  of  all,  a  practical  lesson  in  private  initia- 
tive, they  founded  a  boarding-house  connected  with  a  liter- 
ary club,  a  restaurant,  a  grocery  store,  a  book  shop,  and  a 
publishing  business.  Beginning  December  9,  191 1,  the 
weekly  Vasife  (Duty)  was  published  as  their  organ.  The 
young  men  were  able  to  stimulate  a  great  deal  of  attention 
and  sympathy  through  their  activity  and  sound  views.  Still, 
the  undertaking  was  short-lived,  on  account  of  financial  dif- 
ficulties and  friction  with  the  government. 


Io6         THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  MODERN  TURKEY       [io6 

There  was  more  reality  underlying  the  efforts  of  the 
papers  published  in  the  agricultural  regions  of  Asia  Minor, 
like  the  Keuily  (Peasant)  of  Smyrna  and  the  Babalik 
(Adopted  Father)  of  Konia,  to  do  away  with  the  destruc- 
tive contest  ravaging  the  meagre  supply  of  working  energy 
the  country  possessed.  They  constantly  used  the  defects 
in  the  agrarian  situation  as  an  argument  in  urging  ''  that  the 
political  leaders  had  no  right  to  indulge  in  pleasurable  and 
exciting  political  games,  while  the  peasant  who  for  cen- 
turies had  given  his  blood  and  labor  for  the  survival  of  the 
Empire  was  suffering  heavily  under  his  many  burdens." 

Such  appeals  to  reason  were  gladly  quoted  by  the  papers 
of  both  parties  to  injure  the  other  side,  but  the  conflict 
continued  unabated. 

The  outbreak  of  the  war  with  Italy,  and  the  loss  of 
prestige  connected  with  it,  changed  the  balance  of  power 
against  the  Committee  of  Union  and  Progress.  The  par- 
liament was  dissolved  with  the  hope  that  order  and  con- 
trol might  be  restored  by  eliminating  the  opposition  factions 
from  the  new  parliament  through  coercive  electioneering. 

This  hope  was  not  realized.  The  outcome,  instead,  was 
a  series  of  revolts  in  various  parts  of  the  Empire,  especially 
in  Albania.  A  large  number  of  army  officers,  organized  as 
a  "  group  of  deliverers  ",  thought  it  necessary  to  interfere 
with  those  in  power,  and  the  Committee  government  was 
forced  to  retire. 

The  new  government  was  composed  of  men  of  integrity, 
enjoying  general  confidence  and  prestige.  The  indepen- 
dent and  opposition  papers  {Sahah,  Ikdam,  Yeni-Gasetta, 
Tanzimat)  proclaimed  in  a  triumphant  and  jubilant  tone 
that  "  the  constitutional  regime  and  full  liberty  of  thought 
were  restored  ".  The  parliament  consisting  of  the  ap- 
pointees of  the  Committee  was  immediately  dissolved. 
Stimulated  by  the  critical  situation  the  government  began  a 
zealous  campaign  to  put  the  national  house  in  order. 


lOy]  THE  PRESENT  ERA  I07 

It  was  too  late.  The  disturbed  situation  and  the  loss  of 
prestige  and  power  of  impression  connected  with  it,  which 
had  made  the  Italian  invasion  of  Tripoli  possible,  had  al- 
ready prepared  the  way  for  another  foreign  invasion. 

In  October  19 12,  the  Balkan  War  broke  out.  Turkey 
was  caught  unprepared  because  the  new  government  had 
to  begin  its  work  by  reorganizing  many  things  in  the  army 
and  other  branches  of  administration.  Besides,  the  party 
which  had  within  its  ranks  the  most  ardent  nationalists  and 
militarists  and  w^hich  had  always  displayed  resourcefulness 
and  power  for  agitation  and  organization  in  times  of  high 
pressure  was  now  an  opposition  party.  At  the  outbreak  of 
the  war  the  opponents  fraternized,  of  course,  in  a  very 
demonstrative  way,  and  assured  each  other  that  no  feud  or 
animosity  should  exist  between  them,  as  long  as  the  war 
lasted.  Still,  no  real  solidarity  could  be  established  and  a 
general  national  enthusiasm  could  not  be  aroused. 

When  at  last,  the  government  was  obliged  to  sign  a  treaty 
establishing  a  humiliating  peace,  the  Young  Turkish  Com- 
mittee stepped  in,  easily  mastered  the  situation,  and  re- 
gained a  considerable  amount  of  prestige  in  the  second 
Balkan  War,  which  enabled  Turkey  to  reoccupy  the  City 
of  Adrianople. 

From  the  standpoint  of  Turkey's  future  as  a  nation  the 
Balkan  War  could  not  have  closed  in  a  way  more  likely 
in  the  end  to  retrieve  prestige.  Far-reaching  benefits  were 
secured  in  the  way  of  self-realization  and  self-consciousness 
through  defeats  and  humiliations.  The  loss  to  self-confi- 
dence and  the  hope  of  national  survival,  a  natural  outcome 
of  crushing  defeat,  was  greatly  alleviated,  through  the  pres- 
tige resulting  from  the  reoccupation  of  Adrianople. 

This  was  not  quite  apparent  at  first  sight.  The  war 
had  given  occasion  to  outbursts  of  patriotism,  even  of  fana- 
ticism.    The  Turcophobe  policy  followed  by  the   foreign 


I08    THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  MODERN  TURKEY       [io8 

powers,  and  prejudices  shown  against  Turkey  in  all  Chris- 
tian countries  had  caused  such  strong  reactions,  that  one 
might  be  justified  in  thinking  that  this  war  had  thrown 
Turkey  back  many  decades  in  the  way  of  rational  awaken- 
ing and  progress.  It  is  true  that  the  attitude  of  Europe 
had  aroused  bitter  feelings  even  among  the  people  who 
could  not  ordinarily  be  classed  as  chauvinists.  Jenab  She- 
habiddine  Bey,  a  popular  poet,  on  July  y,  191 3,  published 
in  the  short-lived  daily  Azm  (Determination),  a  long  article 
under  the  heading  of  "a  letter  to  my  son  ",  which  ended  as 
follows : 

We  have  been  defeated,  we  have  been  shown  hostility  by  the 
outside  world,  because  we  have  become  too  deliberative,  too 
cultured,  too  refined  in  our  conceptions  of  right  and  wrong,  of 
humanity  and  civilization.  The  example  of  the  Bulgarian 
army  has  taught  us  that  every  soldier  facing  the  enemy  must 
return  to  the  days  of  barbarism,  must  have  thirst  of  blood, 
must  be  merciless  in  slaughtering  children  and  women,  old  and 
weak,  must  disregard  others'  property,  life  and  honor.  Let  us 
spread  blood,  suffering,  wrong  and  mourning.  We  may  only 
thus  become  the  favorites  of  the  civilized  world  like  King  Fer- 
dinand's army. 

In  spite  of  the  fact  that  feelings  of  this  sort  often 
found  expression,  the  real  effect  of  the  Balkan  War  was 
in  the  opposite  direction.  It  built  up  a  new  situation  in 
which  change  and  progress  could  find  a  course  of  develop- 
ment, entirely  unprecedented  in  the  history  of  modem 
Turkey.  The  defeat  in  the  war,  had  proved  the  inefficiency 
of  the  modern  building  erected  on  the  old  foundation, 
through  an  imitative  process  and  the  employment  of  new 
words^  forms  and  manners.  It  had  subjected  everybody  to 
a  long  and  subversive  mental  crisis,  demonstrating  plainly 
that   something   was   wrong,    that   something   had   to   be 


I09]  THE  PRESENT  ERA  IO9 

changed,  and  changed  quickly  and  thoroughly.  Mahmoud 
SadikBey,  one  of  the  ablest  Turkish  journalists,  expresses 
the  idea  very  frankly  in  the  Ikdam  (April  2,  1913): 

The  defeat  has  demonstrated  that  the  ways  we  have  followed 
up  to  now  do  not  lead  anywhere.  It  has  shown  us  that  we 
have  to  get  rid  of  our  errors  and  mistakes,  of  our  conceit,  of  "^ 
our  haughtiness,  confess  our  ignorance  and  incompetence,  and 
seek  sincerely  and  energetically  for  the  right  way,  for  the  way 
of  deliverance.  We  must  not  be  satisfied  with  half-measures, 
with  half-knowledge,  with  half-education.  These  have  been 
the  greatest  cause  of  our  disasters.  They  have  obscured  our 
view  as  to  the  real  situation  and  made  us  self-satisfied,  con- 
ceited and  stationary. 

The  Sabah  makes  the  following  utterance  on  the  subject: 

Whatever  the  material  losses  of  the  war  may  have  been,  there 
can  be  no  doubt  about  the  moral  benefits  it  brought  about  for 
us.  It  has  created  a  new  sort  of  self-realization,  it  has  given 
a  new  direction  to  our  national  life,  it  has  done  away  with  the 
last  barriers  between  us  and  modern  progress.  In  short,  our  </ 
defeat  means  the  final  victory  of  modernism  in  Turkey. 

In  fact,  the  new  attitude  of  mind  created  by  the  recent 
happenings  and  by  the  systematic  activity  of  the  press  have 
become  apparent  in  every  branch  of  life.  To  cite  an  illustra- 
tion, nobody,  during  the  war,  thought  of  objecting  to  the^ 
public  activity  of  women,  their  caring  for  the  wounded,  or 
their  meetings  and  public  demonstrations.  The  activity  of 
papers  such  as  the  Women's  World,  entirely  edited  by  wo- 
men, in  critically  discussing  the  shortcomings  of  the  Turk- 
ish social  life,  is  to-day,  at  least  tolerated  by  everybody, 
even  if  disapproved  of  by  many.  Within  the  few  months 
following  the  end  of  the  war,  several  new  institutions  of 
learning  for  women  were  founded.  At  the  present  time  the 
papers  complain  freely  of  the  small  number  of  Turkish 


no    THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  MODERN  TURKEY       [no 

girls  studying  at  European  Universities,  and  urge  the  gov- 
ernment to  admit  women  to  professional  schools.  As  a 
first  result  of  this  agitation,  some  special  courses  for  wo- 
men have  been  arranged  at  Constantinople  University. 
What  is  even  more  interesting,  Belkis  Shevket  Hanoum,  one 
of  the  editors  of  the  Women's  World  recently  took  a  ride 
in  a  military  aeroplane,  throwing  down  upon  the  assembled 
throng,  feministic  literature.  This  woman  was  afterwards 
spoken  of  by  the  press  as  a  popular  heroine,  and  the  govern- 
ment has  decided  that  her  picture  shall  be  kept  at  the  mili- 
tary museum.  Such  changes  were  not  even  dreamed  of  a 
year  ago. 

Another  interesting  change  which  may  serve  here  as  a 

"  further  illustration  is  seen  in  the  critical  attitude  taken 
towards  religion.  Before  the  war,  religion  was  excluded 
from  any  critical  discussion.  Such  ignorant  theologians 
as  were  averse  to  progress  could  at  most  be  referred  to  as 
"  some  people  of  ignorance  who  cannot  understand  the 
needs  of  the  time."  Even  the  most  enlightened  and  rational 
papers  felt  obliged  to  publish  on  the  birthday  of  Mohammed 
and  on  similar  religious  occasions,  notes  of  praise  and 
devotion  at  the  top  of  their  first  page,  in  a  formal  and  com- 
plex phraseology,  unintelligible  to  most  of  the  readers. 
Very  few  read  them,  and  only  a  limited  number  were  con- 
scious of  their  meaning.     Omission  to  do  this,  caused  the 

v^  Yeni-Gasetta,  one  of  the  dailies  published  until  recently,  to 
be  boycotted  in  1909  by  a  large  section  of  its  readers,  who 
mostly  asserted  that  they  did  not  mind  the  blunder  them- 
selves, but  merely  feared,  in  the  name  of  public  order,  the 
shocking  effect  it  might  have  on  the  "  general  public." 

After  the  war,  on  the  other  hand,  the  Idjtihad  (Free 
Search)  felt  at  liberty  to  publish  a  series  of  articles  en- 
titled  "  Was  Mohammed  an  Epileptic  ?",  and  another  series 
under  the  title  of  "War  on  Theologians".    Abdullah  Jevdet 


Ill]  THE  PRESENT  ERA  1 1 1 

Bey,  the  proprietor  of  this  same  weekly  had  been  severely 
attacked  and  persecuted  two  years  previously  for  having 
translated  a  French  scientific  treatise  on  Mohammedanism.  ^ 
At  that  time,  no  Turkish  paper  had  dared  to  utter  a  word 
of  defense  in  his  behalf ! 

The  critical  attitude  towards  religion  is  no  longer  de- 
structive. Formerly,  nearly  every  man  of  any  education 
took  pride  in  asserting  that  he  felt  himself  above  the  need  ^ 
of  religion  and  wanted  to  have  nothing  to  do  with  it.  Now 
the  importance  of  Mohammedanism  as  a  secondary  source 
of  social  energy  is  fully  realized.  It  is  generally  under- 
stood that  progress  is  only  possible  by  adapting  both  people 
and  institutions  to  the  new  situation,  instead  of  abandoning 
the  institutions  and  imitating  the  West  in  a  loose  and  rather 
individualistic  way. 

Furthermore,  an  additional  source  of  social  energy  is  be- 
ing created  by  building  up  a  purely  Turkish  nationalism. 
A  society  called  The  Turk  Your  do  u  (Turkish  Home)  is  ^ 
the  most  successful  and  lasting  institution  in  Turkey, 
with  the  exception  of  political  organizations.  It  is  publish- 
ing several  periodicals  with  the  idea  of  simplifying  the  lan- 
guage, creating  a  responsive  Turkish  social  mind,  reviving 
popular  poetry,  myths  and  folklore,  and  establishing  in  gen- 
eral, a  new  cord  between  the  educated  and  uneducated 
classes,  who  had  become  strangers  to  each  other,  through 
the  lack  of  intercourse,  under  the  former  rule  of  the  de- 
throned Sultan.  A  weekly  called  Halka  Dogrou  (Towards 
the  Masses)  is  published  for  this  special  purpose. 

The  tremendous  changes  thus  manifested  indicate  plainly 
that  the  unfavorable  and  deficient  balance  between  the  waste 
and  repair  of  national  energy  must  have  been  replaced  by  a 
sounder  state  of  affairs.  In  fact,  such  a  process  actually 
took  place  through  the  loss  of  Macedonia,  Albania,  and 
other  European  possessions  of  Turkey.    These  regions,  peo- 


112  THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  MODERN  TURKEY       [112 

pled  to  a  great  extent  by  heterogeneous  and  troublesome 
elements,  kindred  racially  and  religiously  of  the  neighbor- 
ing Balkan  states,  threatened  from  every  side  by  external 
dangers,  and  very  hard  and  costly  to  be  kept  and  defended, 
absorbed  the  best  part  of  Turkish  energy,  and  did  not 
give  Turkey  opportunity  to  direct  her  efforts  very  much 
beyond  a  struggle  for  survival.  A  militaristic  policy,  a 
reign  of  terror  under  constitutional  forms  were  the  results. 

Had  the  Turks  had  less  energy  and  vitality,  had  they 
been  less  fortunate  and  successful  in  holding,  in  spite  of 
their  small  number,  a  vast  imperial  system,  threatened 
externally,  a  real  storehouse  of  heterogeneous  elements 
internally,  they  would  not  have  been  obliged  to  give  up 
every  possibility  of  individuation,  to  stick  to  a  military  and 
despotic  government  to  prolong  their  existence,  and  to  give 
Mohammedanism  a  settled  and  stationary  form,  in  order 
to  make  it  a  prop  of  their  inertia. 

As  matters  stood,  the  release  of  Turkey  from  stationary 
conditions  and  her  development  on  modern  lines  could  only 
be  possible  by  a  decrease  of  the  imperial  burden.  As  a 
matter  of  fact,  Turkey,  thought  to  be  about  to  expire  at  the 
end  of  the  eighteenth  century,  came  out  stronger  from  every 
loss  of  territory.  Especially  since  the  recent  instance  of  loss, 
when  a  good  piece  of  troublesome  ballast  was  passed  on 
for  other  national  craft  to  carry,  social  development  has 
taken  a  strongly  ascending  course. 

Never  before  in  Turkish  history  were  the  evils  and 
shortcomings  of  the  nation  so  frankly  exposed,  constructive 
criticism  so  welcome,  men  and  women  alike  provided  with 
such  vast  opportunities  for  individuation,  as  after  the  Bal- 
kan War  as  a  result  of  the  amputation  of  the  sick  and 
energy-absorbing  parts  of  the  territory. 

This  is  not  yet  apparent  at  every  point,  however,  because 
many  signs  of  the  recent  crisis  are  still  prevalent,  and  some 
personal  and  traditional  elements  persist. 


113]  ^^^  PRESENT  ERA  1 1 3 

Part  11.  Number ^  Contents  and  Character  of  Turkish 
Papers  in  the  Present  Era — Their  Relations  to  the  Read- 
ers in  the  Light  of  a  Questionnaire 

The  Turkish  press  of  to-day  is  marked  by  the  relatively 
small  number  of  dailies  and  the  large  number  of  reviews  de- 
voted to  special  purposes  and  lines  of  interest.  Their  policy 
and  contents  indicate  that  instability,  unrest,  agitation,  and 
militancy,  caused  by  social  deficit,  are  being  followed  by 
earnest  and  constructive  effort,  a  sign  of  the  coming  of  a 
more  fortunate  balance  between  waste  and  repair. 

For  the  purpose  of  comparison  and  illustration,  a  classi- 
fied list  of  all  Turkish  periodicals  published  in  Constanti- 
nople at  the  end  of  191 1  and  of  1913  is  given  below.  It 
was  kindly  supplied  by  the  press  bureau  of  Turkey.^ 

Dailies 

1911  1913 

Tanin  (Echo)  Tanin  (6,  rarely  8  pages) 

Sabah  (Morning)  Sabah  (4  pages  of  seven  col- 

Ikdam  (Perservering  Effort)  umns  each) 

Terdjuman-i-Hakikat  /^rfaw  (6,  rarely  8  pages) 

(Interpreter  of  Truth)  Terdjuman-i-Hakikat 

Yeni-Gazetta  (New  Journal)  (4  pages) 

Bedahett  (Evidence)  Tasfir-i-Efkiar     (Tablet     of 

Teshkilat  (Organization)  Thoughts,  6  pages) 

Tchigir  (New  Way)  If  ham  (Explanation,  4  pages) 
Kader  (Destiny) 

Humorous 
Kara-Gheus  (Punch)  Kara-Gheuz  (Semi- weekly) 

Gheveze  (Babbler)  Souffleur  (Prompter) 

Keuily  (Villager)  Yegh-Bun  (Stupid) 

Tokmak   (Mallet) 
Perde  (Curtain) 
Yenitcheri  (Janissary) 
Munassibdir  Efdndim    (It   is 
alright,  Sir!) 

1  According  to  official  estimates  the  number  of  those  who  declared 
their  intention  to  the  press  bureau,  of  publishing  periodicals,  from 
July,  1908,  to  December,  191 1,  amounted  to  more  than  two  thousand. 
Many  of  these  publications  never  appeared. 


114    ^^^  DEVELOPMENT  OF  MODERN  TURKEY       [114 

Illustrated  Magazines 

1911  .1913 

(Weekly)  Servet-i-Funoun  Servet-i-Funoun  ^ 

(Wealth  of  Knowledge)  Shehhal  "" 

(Fortnightly)  Shehhal  Ressimili  Kitab^ 

(Monthly)  Ressimili  Kitah  (Weekly)  Rehah 
(Illustrated  Book)  (Tambourine) 

(Weekly)  Edman  (Sport) 

Popular  and  Nationalistic 
Turk  Yourdou  Turk  Yourdou 

(Turkish  Home)  Buyough  Doigou 

Mejmou'a-i-Ehouzzia  (Lofty  Feeling) 

Ebouzzia's  Review)  Halka  Dogrou  (Towards  the 

Vazife  (Duty)  Masses) 

Ahval-A' zira  (Present  Situa-      Turk    Doigoussou     (Turkish 

tion)  Feelings) 

Hayat  (Life)  Djeridei-Havadis      (Register 

Yurek  (Heart)  of  News) 

F^m-ToMran  (New  Touran*) 

School  and  Children 

Tchotchouk  Duniassi 

(Children's  World) 
Ghenjlik  Alemi 

(Youth's  Universe) 
M ekt eh  Muzessi  {School  M.\i- 

seum) 
Mektehli  (Pupil) 
Talche  Deftcri  (Pupil's  Note- 
book) 
Tchojouk  Doigoussou 

(Children's  Feelings) 
Tchojouk  Yourdou 

(Children's  Home) 
Tchojouk  Derncghi 

(Children's  Assembly) 

1  Of  more  than  32  pages,  of  the  type  of  Paris  Illustration. 

2  Careful  and  discriminating  publication  of  the  type  of  the  London 
Graphic. 

8  Similar  to  ordinary  American  Monthly  Magazines. 

*  According  to  Persian  legends  the  original  home  of  the  Turks. 


115] 


THE  PRESENT  ERA 


115 


1911 


1913 

Tchojouk  Hayati 
(Children's  Life) 

Mekteh  Alemi 
(School  World) 

Tchalishalime!  (Let  Us 
Work) 


Women' 


Kadinlar  Duniassi  ^ 
(Woman's  World) 

Kadinlik  Hayati 

Life  of  Womenhood) 


Religious 


Cira  t-i-Mustekim 

(Bridge  of  Righteousness) 
Beyan-ul-Hak 

(Statement  of  Truth) 
Tesav-vouf 

(Spiritual  Philosophy) 
Mihver-ul-  Ouloiim 

(Centre  of  Knowledge) 


Sehil-ur-Reshad 

(The  Right  Path) 
Djeridei-Soufie 

(Journal  of  Sufism) 
Islam  Dimyassi 

(Islamic  World) 
Elmedariss 

(Religious  Seminars) 
Medresse  Vtikadlari 

(Seminar  Dogmas) 
Ghelime-i-Ta'ihe 

(Good  Word) 


Professional 


MehamaW^  (Defense) 
Tijarett  Odassi  Gazsetassi  * 
Ghenj  Tahih 

(Young  Physician) 
Ghenj  Muhendiss 

(Young  Engineer) 
Ressamlar    Jem'ietti    Gazset- 

tassi  * 


Mehamatt 

Tijarett  Odassi  Gaszetassi 
Ghemidji  (Sailor) 
Ghenj  Muhendiss 


^An  illustrated  weekly  of  the   size  of   Harper's  Weekly,   entirely 
edited  by  women. 
2  Organ  of  the  Constantinople  Bar. 
8  Journal  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce. 
*  Gazette  of  the  Painters'  Society. 


Il6    THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  MUDERN  TURKEY       [i  16 

Agricultural 
1911  1913 

Zira'att  Gazetassi 

(Agricultural  Gazette) 
Eghinji  (Husbandman) 
Toprak  (Earth) 
Felahat  (Cultivation) 
Tavoukjulik 

(Poultry  Journal) 

Military  and  Naval 

Mudafea-i-MiWe  Mudafea-i-Mili'e 

(National  Defense)  (With  a  French  Edition) 

Gheunullu  (Volunteer)  Denis  (Sea) 

Gavasse  (Submarine)  Gavasse 

Donanma  (Navy)  Donanma 

Altoun  Ordou 
(Golden  Army) 

Scientific 

Riyadyatt  (Mathematics)  Idjtihad  (Free  Search) 

Tehahett-i-Hazira  Yeni-Fikir  (New  Thought) 

(Modern  Medicine)  Tarih  Enjumeni 

Tarih  Enjumeni  Mejmouhassi 

Mejmouhassi'^  Fen  ve  San'att 

(Science  and  Art) 
Felsefe  Mejmouhassi 

(journal  of  Philosophy) 
Yeni-Bilghi 

(Modern  Knowledge) 
Seririat  Mejmouhassi 
(Medical  Review) 

Besides  the  self-supporting  publications  enumerated 
above,  there  are  eight  weeklies  published  by  the  depart- 
ments of  war,  navy,  justice,  agriculture,  public  works,  and 
the  daily  Takvim-i-vekayih  (Calendar  of  Events)  issued  by 
the  ministry  of  the  interior. 

*  Journals  of  the  Historical  Society. 


117]  ^^^  PRESENT  ERA  I  j  y 

The  publications  in  non-Turkish  languages  are  as  follows : 

1911  1913 

Dailies       Periodicals  Dailies         Periodicals 

French     6  8  5  5 

Greek    7  6  6  12 

Armenian    5  11  6  17 

Arabic  i  i  3 

English 

(Partly  in  French)      i  I 

German 

(Partly  in  French)      i  I 

Bulgarian    i 

Hebrew  i  4 

Persian    I 

While  two  or  three  years  ago  very  few  of  the  provincial 
towns  had  any  publications  besides  the  official  weeklies, 
there  are  now  self-supporting  papers  even  in  smaller  towns 
outside  of  the  seats  of  the  provinces.  There  is  a  general 
tendency  in  most  of  the  provinces  to  make  themselves  inde- 
pendent of  Constantinople,  and  to  create  a  local  atmosphere 
of  their  own.  From  the  viewpoint  of  the  Turkish  press, 
the  most  important  centers  are  Smyrna,  Brusa,  Konia  and 
Trebizonde.  Smyrna  has  besides  the  Official  Gazette,  and 
thirteen  Greek,  five  French,  five  Hebrew,  and  two  Armenian 
papers,  the  following  publications  in  Turkish:  Hidmett 
(Service),  Ahengh  (Harmony),  Anadolou  (Anatolia), 
Keiiilu  (Peasant),  Teshhir  (F.x.pos'mg),Al  Sanjah  (Red 
Flag),  Tatbikat  (Practice),  Sanihat  (Inspirations),  Mtd- 
hakat  (Country  News),  and  Manissa  (The  Town  of 
Magnesia). 

In  Konia  there  are  published:  Hakkem  (Arbitrator), 
Meshrek-i-Irfan  (Dawn  of  Enlightenment),  Bahalik 
(Adopted  Father),  Meram  (Determination),  Oiif-ki-Ati 
(Horizon  of  Future),  and  Yeni-Tchiftcki  (Modern 
Farmer). 


Il8         THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  MTJDERN  TURKEY       [ng 

In  Brusa,  appear  Ertotigroitl  (name  of  the  father  of  the 
first  Turkish  Sultan),  Broiissa,  Miidafa'a  (Defense), 
Mujahid  (Seeker),  Barika-i-Irshad  (Lightening  of  Enlight- 
enment) ;  besides,  the  Town  of  Eski-Shehir  in  the  same  pro- 
vince has  a  Turkish  paper,  Hakikat  (Truth),  arid  Aivalik, 
a  Greek  paper. 

The  number  of  papers  in  other  provinces  is  as  follows : 

*  Turkish  Greek         Armenian       Arabic  Other  Language 

Adana   4  —  —  —  — 

Adrianople     5  i  —  —  — 

Aleppo    7  —  —  5  — 

Angora    4  —  i  —  — 

Bagdad   5  —  —  19  — 

Basra    2  —  —  6  — 

Beyrouth     i  —  —  41  — 

Dardanelles    2  i  —  —  — 

Diar-Bekir    5  —  2  —  — 

Erzeroum    3  —  2  —  — 

Harpout    3  —  i  i  — 

Hijaz  (Mekka)   . .   i  ^  —  —  —  — 

Jerusalem   i  —  —  15              32 

Kastamani    3  —  —  —  — 

Mousoul    3  —  —  2  — 

Sivas   3  —  7  —  — 

Syria   i  —  —  26  — 

Trebizonde 11  3  i  —              i^ 

Van   I  —  3  —  — 

Yemen    i  * 

In  the  provinces  lost  to  Turkey,  the  following  number  of 
papers  were  published  before  the  foreign  invasion : 

1  Turkish  and  Arabic.  ^2  French,  i  Hebrew. 

3  French.  *  Turkish  and  Arabic. 


Iig]  THE  PRESENT  ERA  II9 

Turkish        Greek      Bulgarian      French  Other  Languages 

Archipal    i  4  —  —  — 

Kossova    4  —  —  —  — 

Monsatir    2  —  — '  —  — 

Salonica    11  i  i  2            5   (Hebrew) 

Scutari    4  —  —  —             i   (Albanian) 

Tripoli     2  —  —  —             2   (Arabic) 

Yanina    3  i  —  —            3  (Albanian) 

The  entire  number  of  periodical  publications  within  the 
Ottoman  dominions  at  the  end  of  the  year  1913,  was  three 
hundred  and  eighty-nine.  Periodicals  published  by  foreign 
societies,  chambers  of  commerce,  and  colleges  were  not  in- 
cluded in  the  number.  Of  these  three  hundred  and  eighty- 
nine,  one  hundred  and  sixty-one  were  in  Turkish,  (seventy- 
one  of  them  published  in  Constantinople  including  eight 
official  weeklies  and  a  daily),  one  hundred  and  eighteen  in 
Arabic,  forty-two  in  Armenian,  thirty-eight  in  Greek,  eigh- 
teen in  French,  ten  in  Hebrew,  one  each  in  English,  Ger- 
man, and  Persian. 

As  conditions  in  Turkey  are  not  yet  settled,  any  extra- 
ordinary event  may  cause  an  abnormally  large  increase  in 
the  number  of  papers  and  again  there  may  be  a  great,  but 
temporary  decrease.  Since  the  number  of  educational  insti- 
tutions and  the  desire  for  learning  and  self -betterment  are 
very  rapidly  increasing,  a  lasting  retrogression  in  quality 
and  quantity  is  no  longer  possible. 

The  element  of  abnormality  and  uncertainty  must  also 
be  considered  in  studying  the  contents  of  Turkish  papers. 
Since  the  establishment  of  the  new  regime,  there  has  al- 
ways been  some  kind  of  disturbance,  such  as  wars,  internal 
revolts,  unsettled  political  questions,  and  diplomatic  inci- 
dents. The  papers  have  had  to  devote  a  large  part  of  their 
space  to  reporting  these  extraordinary  and  disturbing  events. 
Therefore,  they  do  not  afford  a  fair  idea,  as  to  what  mat- 


I20         THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  MODERN  TURKEY       [120 

ters  they  would  give  attention  and  interest  to  under  normal 
conditions. 

There  was  a  period  relatively  free  from  disturbing  ele- 
ments, in  the  time  between  the  Counter-Revolution  of  April 
1909  and  the  outbreak  of  the  Italian  War,  (Oct.  191 1). 
Consequently,  this  period  has  been  chosen  to  make  a  statis- 
tical study  of  the  contents  of  Turkish  dailies. 

Six  papers  have  been  studied,  ranging  from  the  govern- 
mental Tanin  to  Sahah  (independent,  friendly  to  govern- 
ment), Yeni-Gazetta  (independent,  friendly  to  opposition), 
Ikdam  (moderate  opposition),  Alemdar  (opposition),  and 
Tanzimat  (extreme  left).  The  news  in  about  twenty  copies 
of  each  has  been  classified.  Measurement  has  also  been 
made  of  the  amount  of  space  occupied  by  each  class. 

The  results  have  been  classified  in  two  ways :  first  into 
the  paper's  own  opinion,  quoted  opinion,  entertaining  and 
instructive  feature  stories,  news,  and  advertisements;  sec- 
ondly, into  various  topics  according  to  the  nature  of  the 
subjects  treated.  Both  tabulations  expressed  in  relative 
figures  are  given  on  the  following  page.  These  tabulations, 
of  course,  do  not  show  the  changes  noticeable  in  the  con- 
tents of  the  Turkish  papers  since  the  latter  part  of  the  year 
191 1.  The  changes  since  that  date  have  included  a  greater 
amount  of  attention  to  news  from  Mohammedan  countries, 
especially  the  Turkish  provinces  in  Russia  and  increased 
interest  in  educational  matters.  Sports,  in  particular  foot- 
ball games  between  Turkish  and  foreign  teams  have  also 
begun  to  occupy  more  and  more  space  and  attention. 

The  figures  in  each  of  the  following  tables  give  the  aver- 
age space  devoted  to  the  various  classes  of  printed  matter  in 
about  twenty  issues  of  each  paper  named,  expressed  as  a 
percentage  of  the  total  space  of  the  twenty  copies  of  each 
paper. 


I2l] 


THE  PRESENT  ERA 
Table  I 


121 


General  Classes 


Editorials 

Quotations 

Special  Articles  and  Fiction 

News    

Advertisements 


s 

,^ 

0 

4> 

1 

i 

T3.:; 

g 

a 

Q, 

> 
o 
O 

0 

1:1 

8 

1 

•1 

6.28^ 

e.ijji 

9.255^ 

11.20;^ 

lo.i-ji 

693 

8.89 

16.72 

12.68 

6.44 

17.92 

19. 08 

14.48 

1085 

11.48 

45-36 

52.7a 

55-39 

43-35 

53-46 

23.62 
100.00 

10.06 

2.21 

26.84 

lOO.CO 

18.45 

100.00 

100.00 

100.00 

^>2 
•§2 


11.74^ 

7.17 

12.07 

47-M 


Subject  Classes 


Table  II 


World  Politics 

Turkish  external  Policy 

General  internal  Policy 

Parliament 

Party  Politics 

Internal  Unrest  

Letters  and  telegrams  from  readers 

on  Political  Questions 

Economics,  Industry,  Business  . . . . 

Religion 

Military 

Culture,  Science,  Education 

Court  and  Society  

Criminal  and  Sensational  

Health  and  Municipality 

Various  communications  from 

readers 

Novel  and  Fiction    

Governmental  Advertisements 

Educational  Advertisements 

Business  Advertisements 

Personal  Advertisements 


Combined  length  of  Columns 
Breadth  of  column 


4.S05J 

6.49?^ 

i5.S4f» 

8.78j{ 

6.25^ 

II. II 

8.80 

10  IS 

6.61 

9.85 

4.42 

11.28 

5-87 

II  44 

5-52 

S-I8 

4.20 

8.09 

5.20 

4.72 

5-16 

11.05 

30.47 

6.10 

1.71 

2.37 

4  77 

4.10 

6.46 

5.78 

184 

9-38 

S.:?I 

0.56 

1-13 

2.95 

285 

4.26 

328 

4.26 

1.04 

1.30 

0.84 

0.49 

T.27 

5.40 

2.88 

2.71 

I-I5 

3.60 

1567 

10.10 

6.16 

7-36 

1439 

2.22 

1.82 

0  28 

0-95 

3-45 

2.7s 

2.96 

2.02 

3-49 

6.36 

2.70 

3-17 

1.56 

315 

4.60 

1.26 

1.23 

O.S3 

2.48 

2.13 

781 

7-49 

5  79 

649 

8.27 

0.95 
0.85 

.... 

2-33 

2. II 

3-38 

066 

3-09 

1-73 

11.29 

7.69 

1.22 

21. 

14.46 

0.68 

0.74 

0.33 

0.29 

0.19 

100.00 

100.00 

100.00 

100.00 

100.00 
531  in. 

750  in. 

725  in. 

286  in. 

760  in. 

2.65 

2.75 

2.7s 

2.57 

2.7s 

5-43^ 

8.90 

8.24 

4.40 

0.58 

4.01 

0.80 
8.66 
0.50 
1-45 
11.96 
1.23 
1.63 
8-SS 

2.06 

1059 
3.26 
3-70 

13-31 
0.74 


100.00 


690  in. 
2.75 


The  results  of  measurements,  used  according  to  the 
formula  of  solidarity  of  Professor  Giddings,  taking  all  cul- 
tural matters  (political,  economic,  educational),  political 
matters,  Turkish  politics,  Turkish  internal  politics,  Turkish 
party  politics  as  categories,  produce  the  following  coeffi- 
cients of  solidarity  for  the  different  papers : 


122         THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  MODERN  TURKEY       [122 

Coefficients  of  Coefficients  of 

Solidarity  non-Solidarity 

1.  Sahah   (independent)    1.31  3.69 

2.  Yeni-Gazetta   (independent)    1.38  3.62 

3.  Tanin   (governmental)    1.42  3.58 

4.  Ikdani  (moderate  oppositional)  .  .1.73  3.27 

^.  Alemdar  (oppositional)    2.26  2.74 

6.  Tanzimat  (extreme  left) 3.17  1.83 

The  results  obtained  show  that  the  independent  Sahah 
and  Yeni-Gazetta  have  no  special  purpose  in  view,  and  are 
disparate  in  their  contents.  The  Ikdam  which  inclines  to 
opposition  displays  a  closer  firmness  of  purpose.  The  Tanin, 
the  paper  of  the  majority  party,  which  has  to  follow  a  re- 
served attitude  on  many  questions,  does  not  show  quanti- 
tively  its  firmness  of  purpose.  The  proportion  suddenly  in- 
creases with  regard  to  the  paper  of  the  opposition  party;  and 
a  great  solidarity  and  firmness  of  purpose  is  seen  in  the 
paper  of  the  extreme  left. 

In  spite  of  their  many  divergencies  in  policy  and  direc- 
tion, Turkish  dailies  are  alike  in  their  general  character 
and  make-up.  They  all  begin  with  a  signed  leading  article 
about  two  columns  long.  Usually,  there  is  a  short  second 
article  printed  in  smaller  type,  on  questions  of  secondary 
interest.  Then  come  political  news  of  different  kinds,  quo- 
tations from  foreign  and  provincial  papers  and  letters  from 
correspondents.  The  columns  preceding  the  advertise- 
ments are  occupied  by  letters  from  readers,  news  on  cultural 
matters,  on  happenings  in  foreign  countries,  on  new  books, 
and  by  "  short  items  ",  comprising  all  sorts  of  police  events. 
Many  of  these  "  short  items "  which  are  dealt  with  in 
three  or  four  lines  without  any  heading,  would  make  very 
attractive  first-page  stories  for  any  American  paper. 
The  idea  of  attracting  and  interesting  the  reader,  at  the  ex- 
pense of  the  professionally  accepted  standards  of  dignity 
would  be  repulsive  to  the  Turkish  journalist.     Not  only 


12^]  THE  PRESENT  ERA  I23 

crimes  and  scandals,  but  also  stirring  accidents,  floods  and 
fires,  do  not  find  access  to  the  first  page;  in  general,  not 
even  to  the  second  page.  The  "  human  interest "  element 
is  covered  by  short  stories,  special  articles  and  feature 
stories  translated  from  foreign  papers.  Most  of  the  papers 
have  inaugurated  a  special  feature  column,  in  which  events 
of  actual  interest  are  given  humorous  and  comic  treatment. 
The  lower  part  of  the  second,  sometimes  also  the  third  page 
is  occupied  by  a  novel,  or  some  other  kind  of  serial  publica- 
tion (generally  historical  essays). 

Before  the  Revolution  of  1908,  a  very  limited  use  was 
made  of  head-lines.  Only  when  an  act  of  the  Sultan  had  to 
be  given  great  emphasis  was  more  than  one  headline  used. 
There  was  no  type  larger  than  twenty-four  point.  Wooden 
plates  had  to  be  engraved  for  making  display  on  great  oc- 
casions such  as  the  Sultan's  birthday. 

The  distaste  for  more  than  one  headline  and  the  opinion 
that  more  was  a  vulgar  sign  of  sensationalism  continued 
for  some  time  after  the  Revolution.  But  the  increase  of 
competition  and  expenses,  and  the  succession  of  important 
events,  induced  the  publishers  to  resort  to  commercial  meth- 
ods and  to  disregard  old  standards  in  order  to  interest  and 
attract  the  less  educated  classes  of  readers.  For  this  pur- 
pose, larger  and  larger  display  types  began  to  be  cast 
Since  the  Balkan  War,  the  use  of  display  types  has  become 
so  general  that,  at  times,  they  are  even  used  to  attract  at- 
tention to  editorial  articles. 

A  few  years  ago  such  a  thing  would  have  been  considered, 
both  by  the  journalist  and  the  reader,  a  horrible  sacrilege. 
Whatever  the  other  parts  of  the  paper  might  look  like  the 
editorial  was  expected  to  be  clean,  dignified,  and  free  from 
every  kind  of  insincerity  and  sensationalism.  It  often  oc- 
curred that  the  editorial  faced  a  situation  squarely  and 
boldly,  while  in  the  news  section  it  was  evaded  and  ignored, 


124         ^-^-^  DEVELOPMENT  OF  MODERN  TURKEY       [124 

excepting  by  self -deceiving  remarks.  The  Hellenic  agita- 
tion among  the  Ottoman  Greeks,  for  instance,  might  be 
treated  by  the  editorial  section  in  a  logical  and  sincere  way. 
while,  in  the  news  section  the  information  on  this  matter 
was  likely  to  be  accompanied  by  a  remark  of  this  sort: 
"  No  word  of  this  can  be  true,  we  are  convinced  of  the 
loyalty  of  our  Greek  fellow-countrymen." 

The  news  editor  lacked  in  many  instances  the  education 
which  the  editorial  writer  had.  Besides  he  felt  obliged  to 
differ  from  the  attitude  of  the  editorial  writer,  because  most 
of  the  readers  had  not  sufficient  understanding  for  news 
published  as  such.  They  expected  their  papers  to  accompany 
all  news  averse  to  public  feeling  with  some  alleviating  com- 
ment. The  Yeni-Gazetta  announced  repeatedly  that  it 
would  give  every  sort  of  nev/s  in  its  news  section,  even  if 
averse  to  the  policy  of  the  paper  and  to  public  feeling, 
without  any  comment,  but  the  experiment  did  not  work  and 
had  to  be  modified. 

Another  difficulty  the  Turkish  journalists  have,  in  their 
relation  with  the  readers,  is  in  the  matter  of  consistency. 
The  reader  generally  expects  his  favorite  paper  to  be  con- 
sistent in  its  views.  As  a  matter  of  fact  consistency  is  im- 
possible under  the  pressing  and  ever-varying  stimuli  to 
which  the  Turkish  journalist  is  subjected.  He  cannot  take 
the  view  of  a  cold-blooded  on-looker  at  the  situation,  when 
he  sees  that  so  many  things  dear  to  him  are  at  stake.  Some- 
times he  has  outbursts  of  pessimism,  sometimes  he  is,  on 
the  contrary,  a  blind  optimist.  There  are  times,  when  he 
makes  frank  confession  regarding  the  conditions  and  the 
chances  of  progress  of  the  country;  again,  he  attacks  for- 
eign observers  bitterly  for  expressing  nearly  the  same  views. 
At  the  bottom  of  every  discussion,  he  comes  invariably  to 
the  question :  Can  we  save  ourselves ;  can  we  achieve  quick 
V^  and  thorough  progress?     Some  journalists  insist  upon  be- 


125]  '^^^  PRESENT  ERA  £25 

lieving  that  a  complete  and  thorough  metamorphosis  must 
take  place  some  day,  somehow  or  other ;  others  take  a  more 
moderate  view. 

"  I  have  an  unalterable  conviction,"  wrote  M.  A.  Tevfic 
in  the  Tanin,  "  that  we  can  be  rescued  from  our  inertia 
and  lethargy  only  by  an  epoch-making  scientific  achievement 
of  a  Turk.  If  a  Turk  makes  a  great  discovery  in  biology, 
chemistry,  astronomy,  or  medicine,  its  stimulating  effect  on 
our  national  pride  will  be  so  deep  and  lasting,  that  a  meta- 
morphosis is  likely  to  take  place  in  our  existence.  Our  in- 
tellectual environment  will  then  be  changed  immediately, 
and  we  shall  be  able  to  find  constructive  aspirations  in  our 
new  generation," 

"  We  ought  not  to  believe  in  a  metamorphosis,"  answers 
the  Sahah.  "It  is  true  that  we  can  spare  much  effort  and 
energy  in  skipping  in  many  things  over  different  stages  of 
development  and  adopting  at  once  the  final  results  attained 
by  Western  nations.  For  instance,  we  can  use  quinine  right 
away  without  having  to  go  through  the  long  list  of  medi- 
cines that  had  previously  been  used  for  that  purpose.  But 
no  kind  of  metamorphosis  can  make  us  understand  Nietzsche 
and  Spencer  without  having  a  preparatory  education." 

As  these  two  instances  to  some  extent  show,  the  Turk- 
ish journalist  inclines  to  look  at  things  from  their  most 
general  and  fundamental  aspect,  and  from  a  scientific,  at 
least  supposedly  scientific,  point  of  view.  Although  the 
language  of  the  press  has  been  simplified,  in  every  respect, 
and  the  new  and  practical  medium  of  expression  created 
chiefly  by  the  dailies  has  swept  away  the  debris  of  the  old 
and  formal  phraseology,  a  new  element  of  complication 
has  been  introduced,  during  the  last  one  or  two  years  by  the 
use  of  sociological  terms  even  in  popular  articles.  The 
danger  lying  in  the  popular  use  of  such  terms  is  appar- 
ent.    They  serve  to  cover  ignorance  and  lack  of  under- 


126         THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  MODERN  TURKEY       [126 

standing,  to  givQ  authority  to  misconceived  ideas,  and  to 
satisfy  the  half -educated  elements  that  they  have  reached 
the  summit  of  all  learning  and  scholarship.  But,  at  the 
same  time,  the  use  made  of  such  terms  gives  clear  evidence 
of  the  general  interest  taken  in  social  matters  and  in  the 
explanation  of  the  social  situation.  As  a  result,  articles 
of  a  sociological  character  are  taking  an  increasing  space  in 
reviews  and  dailies.  A  large  number  of  sociological  works 
have  been  translated  from  the  French,  mostly  as  parts  of  the 
"  Free  Search  "  series  edited  by  the  publisher  of  the  review 
of  the  same  name.  There  seems  to  be  a  large  demand  for 
them,  as  well  as  for  books  written  by  native  authors  on 
social  questions.  More  than  two  or  three  editions  of  a 
sociological  work  within  the  space  of  one  or  two  years  is 
not  a  rare  event. 

Many  a  reader  not  only  reads  passionately  what  others 
say  and  think,  but  likes  also  to  see  himself  in  print. 
Every  day  a  large  number  of  unsolicited  articles  pour  in  at 
every  newspaper  office,  dealing  with  every  possible  phase 
of  public  interest.  There  is  no  pecuniary  motive  back  of 
these  writings,  as  Turkish  papers  never  pay  for  outside  con- 
tributions, except  in  cases  where  contributions  are  expressly 
asked  for  from  well  known  writers.  They  are  mostly  the 
work  of  students,  retired  officials,  militant  women,  and 
reformers  of  every  sort  who  are  sincere  in  their  desire  to 
advance  a  new  conviction  or  idea,  or  of  those  who  simply 
wish  to  see  their  names  in  print. 

Another  class  of  communication  received,  expresses  the 
readers*  approval  or  disapproval  of  certain  opinions  of  the 
paper.  A  sincere  zealous  campaign  (for  instance,  in  be- 
half of  the  peasant  class  or  for  non-partisanship  in  politics) 
is  sure  to  bring  in  a  large  number  of  expressions  of  praise 
and  sympathy;  poems  even,  are  sent  in  on  such  occasions. 
On  the  other  hand,  a  violent  and  partisan  discussion  of  im- 


127]  ^^^  PRESENT  ERA  1 27 

portant  public  matters  draws  critical  comments,  warnings, 
and  sometimes  also  anonymous  letters  of  threat. 

The  press  is  the  first  place  to  appeal  to  for  redress  even 
by  those  who  cannot  themselves  read.  In  December,  1910^ 
a  group  of  peasants  from  a  village  near  Harpout,  Asia 
Minor,  came  to  the  office  of  the  Ycni-Gazetta  to  complain 
that  their  lands  had  been  taken  away  by  a  local  boss.  The 
paper  immediately  opened  a  campaign  against  bosses  in 
agricultural  communities  in  general,  the  one  in  question  in 
particular.  The  government  made  telegraphic  inquiries. 
The  accusation  was  duly  denied  by  the  local  authorities; 
still,  the  peasants  came  to  the  newspaper  office  to  give 
thanks  and  to  say  that  they  felt  fully  satisfied  and  redressed 
because  their  sufferings  and  the  oppression  of  the  boss  had 
come  before  the  public  eye. 

Intercourse  between  readers  and  papers  is  not  confined 
to  communications,  articles,  and  appeals  such  as  these. 
Occasionally,  inquiries  are  made  among  the  readers,  for 
instance,  as  to  the  best  way  to  celebrate  the  national  holi- 
day, or  the  ideal  persons  to  govern  the  country,  or  the 
ideal  deputy  to  elect,  or  the  books  preferred  and  read. 
The  ''Tallin''  received  in  1910,  over  two  thousand 
answers  to  its  inquiry  as  to  the  best  Turkish  statesmen 
from  whom  to  form  an  ideal  cabinet. 

Formerly,  such  inquiries  were  directed  by  the  editorial 
department  without  much  thought  of  business  profit. 
Now,  the  business  department  is  taking  a  greater  interest 
in  the  matter.  One  of  the  dailies,  {Tasvir-i-Efktar),  is 
distributing  prizes  with  a  view  to  increasing  its  circula- 
tion. This  method  is  resorted  to  by  nearly  all  of  the 
popular  magazines.  In  fact,  the  business  department  is 
gaining  ground  at  the  expense  of  the  editorial  department. 
Not  so  long  ago  the  editorial  staff  took  great  pride  in 
filling  the  columns  with  every  variety  of  material  which 


128         THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  MODERN  TURKEY       [128 

every  first-class  paper  ought  to  contain  according  to  pro- 
fessional standards,  and  only  the  space  which  happened 
to  be  left  over  was  given  to  advertisements.  Now,  on 
the  contrary,  the  editorial  staff  is  becoming  obliged  to 
adjust  its  writing  to  the  amount  of  advertising  matter 
received,  and  is  coming  more  and  more  under  the  sway 
of  the  business  manager. 

The  reason  for  this  change  lies,  to  some  extent  with  the 
journalists  themselves.  Owing  to  the  abundance  of  more 
remunerative  positions  in  the  government  service,  many 
of  the  journalists  of  ability  and  prestige  have  deserted 
the  press  since  the  Revolution.  Three  have  become  cab- 
inet ministers,  two  general  governors  of  provinces,  sev- 
eral have  obtained  positions  like  general  secretaries  of 
provinces.  Most  of  those  remaining  have  given  their 
spare  time  to  parliamentary  life,  teaching,  or  magazine 
writing.  Many  young  men  have  invaded  the  field  who 
also  have  to  do  some  kind  of  outside  work  in  order  to 
increase  their  meager  salaries.  With  the  exception  of  the 
chief  and  the  news  editor  who  receive,  on  an  average, 
one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  and  one  hundred  dollars 
a  month  respectively,  there  are  very  few  men  on  the  staff 
with  a  salary  of  more  than  fifty  dollars.  Furthermore, 
most  of  the  men  have  very  little  journalistic  spirit,  as  they 
begin  their  careers  as  translators  or  re-write  men,  and  not 
as  reporters.  No  man  of  any  education  cares  to  become 
a  reporter.  The  reporters  who  have  better  developed 
journalistic  instincts  than  most  of  the  members  of  the 
staff,  receive  as  a  maximum  salary,  thirty-five  dollars  a 
a  month.  The  average  salary  is  twenty-five  dollars  a 
month. 

Under  such  conditions,  it  is  no  wonder  that  only  a  few 
are  able  to  develop  a  real  attachment  to  the  press  and  to 
decide  to  make  journalism  their  life-work.     As  a  conse- 


129]  THE  PRESENT  ERA  I29 

quence,  the  professional  spirit  of  the  editorial  staff  and 
its  prestige  and  influence  with  the  business  department 
could  not  but  be  declining. 

There  are,  of  course,  more  important  reasons  than  this 
for  the  gaining  influence  of  the  business  side.  They  are  to 
be  found  in  the  increasing  cost  and  competition.  With 
but  one  exception,  all  the  morning  papers  are  now 
stereotyped,  and  three  of  them  publish  pictures.  More- 
over, no  correspondents  in  the  interior  are  volunteering 
their  services  as  they  used  to  do ;  they  expect  to  be 
paid.  Competition,  as  well  as  patriotic  considerations 
have  induced  several  papers  to  keep  able  traveling  corre- 
spondents in  the  interior,  in  order  to  report  and  expose 
the  existing  conditions.' 

Although  the  telegraphic  agencies  are  furnishing  the 
papers  with  a  large  amount  of  foreign  news,  regular 
contributors  are  maintained  in  some  of  the  foreign  cen- 
ters for  reports,  mostly  of  a  cultural  character.  Compe- 
tition is  further  met  through  special  articles,  signed  by 
prominent  writers,  which  are  to  be  paid  for  and  paid  for 
heavily,  as  measured  by  the  standards  of  the  Turkish  press. 

As  a  result  of  these  expenses  and  the  increasing  size, 
the  papers^  are  sold  for  less  than  their  cost.^  There- 
fore, increasing  attention  has  to  be  given  to  advertise- 
ments, in  order  to  cover  the  deficit  and  secure  profit. 

^The  reports  sent  by  Ahmed  Sherif,  the  correspondent  of  Tanin, 
exposing  mercilessly  the  deplorable  situation  in  the  provinces  were  pub- 
lished in  book  form  and  ran  through  several  editions  within  two  years. 
Some  of  the  patriotic  readers  sent  him  personal  presents,  among  others, 
a  gold  watch  and  a  fifty  dollar  bill. 

'  Formerly  four  pages  of  the  size  of  the  Paris  dailies,  for  the  past  two 
or  three  years  six,  sometimes  eight,  pages  of  the  same  size. 

*The  price  of  the  daily  is  uniformly  one  cent,  or  three-quarters  of 
a  cent  to  the  newsboys.  Some  of  the  popular  weeklies  are  also  sold  at 
one  cent  or  two.  The  price  of  reviews  and  magazines  is  from  four  to 
twenty  cents. 


I30         T'ifE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  MODERN  TURKEY       [130 

Among  the  advertisements,  those  given  by  the  various 
state  departments  have  always  played  an  important  role. 
The  government  in  power,  of  course,  uses  this  means  to 
reward  support  and  punish  opposition. 

Of  the  papers  measured  for  this  thesis  and  belonging 
to  1910  and  191 1,  the  organ  of  the  extreme  left  had  no 
government  advertisements  at  all.  The  organ  of  the 
opposition  had  only  five  inches  in  every  number.  The 
independent  Yeni-Gazetta  which  was,  on  certain  occa- 
sions, strongly  oppositional  had  12.18  inches,  the  mod- 
erately oppositional  Ikdam  17.75,  ^^  independent  Sabah 
25,  and  the  governmental  Tanin  62. 

Educational  advertisements  also  play  a  rather  im- 
portant role.  One  or  two  of  eight  to  twelve  advertising 
columns  are  occupied  by  announcements  of  new  books 
and  of  different  educational  institutions.  The  £cole 
Libre  des  Sciences  Politiques  of  Paris  and  several  other 
French  and  German  schools  are  accustomed  to  advertise 
in  the  Turkish  dailies  before  the  beginning  of  the  school 
year. 

Among  the  business  advertisements,  a  conspicuous 
place  is  taken  by  those  patent  medicines  which  are 
known  to  every  newspaper  reader  throughout  the  world. 
There  are  now  also  native  patent  medicines  which  almost 
go  beyond  the  imported  ones  in  advertising.  Depart- 
ment stores,  physicians,  new  Turkish  enterprisers  and 
lawyers  are  also  good  advertisers.  As  a  result  of  the 
agitation  made  after  the  revolution  the  prejudice  among 
Turks  against  commercial  activities  has  begun  to  vanish, 
and  to  make  way  for  all  sorts  of  business  undertakings. 
Those  using  their  "  private  initiative  "  become  more  and 
more  admired  as  national  heroes.  This  class  of  business 
amateurs  often  appeals  to  the  national  feelings  of  the 
readers.       One    man,    a    wholesale    grocer,    has    hired 


131  ]  THE  PRESENT  ERA  I3I 

permanently  the  top  of  the  advertising  columns  of  all 
Turkish  dailies  to  publish  each  day  a  short  article  on 
the  attractions  of  a  business  career  and  **  private 
initiative." ' 

The  increasing  importance  of  the  advertisements  is,  of 
course,  bound  to  end  many  virtues  of  the  press,  which  ex- 
isted during  the  stage  of  development,  when  the  sat- 
isfaction of  the  reader  and  the  circulation  were  the  chief 
concerns  of  the  papers.  At  that  stage,  the  pressure  of 
the  readers'  opinions  was  directly  and  immediately  felt 
by  the  paper  and  a  quick  adjustment  was  made  necessary. 

A  few  years  ago,  before  the  advertiser  had  become  the 
chief  support  of  the  papers,  and  the  political  conditions 
were  unsettled,  the  readers  often  consciously  and  form- 
ally took  advantage  of  the  power  of  their  one  cent  pieces 
to  punish  unpopular  or  chauvinistic  policies  of  certain 
papers.  The  last  instance  of  this  sort  was  in  the  cam- 
paign undertaken  by  the  weekly  Vastfi  (Duty)  to  have 
partisan  papers  boycotted  and  only  independent  and 
moderate  dailies  read,  as  long  as  the  former  continued 
their  animosity  and  violence  against  each  other. 
"  Our  cents  are  a  vigorous  weapon.  Let  us  save  the 
country  from  terror  by  making  the  right  use  of  them  ! " 
was  the  war-cry  used  on  this  occasion. 

In  the  period  of  violent  political  agitation,  a  sudden 
decline  or  rise  of  several  thousands  was  a  frequent  hap- 
pening for  the  papers.  The  Tanin,  the  Committee* s 
organ,  for  instance,  had  an  average  circulation  of  seven 
thousand  before  the  Counter-Revolution  of  1909.  At 
times,  when  the  Committee  became  very  unpopular,  it 
went  down   as  low  as  four   thousand.     After   the   out- 

'  This  phrase  has  been  made  through  repetition,  a  slogan  in  the  new 
Turkish  era. 


132         THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  MODERN  TURKEY       [132 

break,  during  which  its  office  was  attacked  and  pillaged, 
it  reached  twenty-eight  thousand.  On  account  of  its 
using  worn  out  type  and  a  poor  quality  of  paper,  it  soon 
dropped  to  ten  thousand.  By  enlarging  its  size,  its  cir- 
culation became  fourteen  thousand,  later  eighteen  thou- 
•and.  At  the  outbreak  of  the  Italian  War  the  circula- 
tion was  doubled  for  a  few  days.  Upon  the  downfall  of 
the  committee  government  in  1912,  the  paper  immedi- 
ately lost  several  thousands  of  readers. 

The  circulation  of  the  Ikdam  has  also  been  an  ex- 
ceedingly fluctuating  one.  It  rose  with  opportunities 
to  make  open  opposition,  and  fell  with  restrictions  made 
to  the  liberty  of  speech.  Its  lowest  circulation  was 
eight  thousand  after  the  troubles  of  April,  1909.  Fifty 
thousand  copies  or  more  were  sold  only  on  special  oc- 
casions like  the  outbreak  of  the  Italian  War  and  the 
publication  of  an  expose  by  the  late  Grand  Vezir  Kiamil 
Pasha  to  justify  his  attitude  during  the  crisis  of  Decem- 
ber, 1908.  When  the  Committee  government  fell  in 
1912,  the  circulation  of  the  Ikdam  rose  immediately  to 
twenty-six  thousand.  This  was  an  increase  of  thirty 
per  cent. 

Since  191 2,  on  account  of  the  wars,  the  military 
regime  which  makes  wide  deviations  from  the  normal 
impossible,  and  the  natural  elimination  of  financially 
weak  papers  which  constituted  an  element  of  uncer- 
tainty, wide  fluctuations  have  ceased.  Now,  all  the  five 
morning  papers  have  a  circulation  close  to,  or  above, 
fifteen  thousand.  As  previously  mentioned,  the  amount 
of  circulation  gives  no  indication  as  to  the  number  of 
readers,  because  many  of  the  readers  prefer  to  go  to  a 
coffee  house,  pay  one  cent  (in  better  located  places,  two 
cents)  for  a  cup  of  coffee  or  tea,  and  read  all  of  the 
dailies  and  magazines;  in  addition,  they  also  often  borrow 
the  papers  of  their  friends  or  neighbors. 


133]  -^^^  PRESENT  ERA  1 33 

The  extent  of  coffee-house  reading,  newspaper  bor- 
rowing, as  well  as  the  individual  attitude  taken  towards 
the  press  were,  to  some  extent,  statistically  measured 
by  means  of  a  questionnaire  passed  around  in  Con- 
stantinople during  October,  191 3,  for  the  purposes  of 
this  dissertation.  On  account  of  the  state  of  siege  per- 
mission for  this  was  necessarily  obtained  from  the  mili- 
tary authorities.  The  questionaires  were  distributed  by 
friends  of  the  writer,  who,  as  far  as  possible  obtained 
replies  from  representatives  of  all  classes  in  the  popula- 
tion. Unfortunately,  the  group  of  one  hundred  and 
twenty  Turks  who  filled  the  questionnaires  cannot  be 
considered  fully  representative.  Partly  because  they 
feared  becoming  involved  in  some  kind  of  trouble,  partly 
on  account  of  the  state  of  siege,  many  persons  refused 
to  fill  in  the  questionnaire,  although  they  were  expressly 
told  that  they  did  not  have  to  divulge  their  identity. 

The  one  hundred  and  twenty  who  did  answer,  with 
very  few  exceptions,  took  the  matter  very  seriously. 
They  not  only  gave  long  and  detailed  answers  to  the 
twenty-five  points  on  the  questionnaire,  but  many  of 
them  also  ruled  the  paper  carefully  and  numbered  both 
the  questions  and  answers.  A  great  number  took  it  as 
a  good  opportunity  to  give  free  expression  to  their 
ideas  and  personality.  Tabulation  produces  the  follow- 
ing results : 

Of  the  one  hundred  and  twenty,  one  hundred  and  four 
are  men  and  sixteen  are  women.  The  ages  differ  from 
seventeen  to  sixty,  twelve  being  between  seventeen  and 
nineteen,  fifty  between  twenty  and  twenty-nine,  twenty- 
nine  between  thirty  and  thirty-nine,  fourteen  between 
forty  and  forty-nine,  and  four  between  fifty  and  sixty. 
Three  do  not  indicate  their  age. 

Forty-three  are  studens  or  graduates  of  the  law  or  po- 


134         THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  MODERN  TURKEY       [134 

litical  science  departments  of  the  university,  three  of  them, 
in  addition  having  studied  at  the  Sorbonne,  Paris.  The 
line  of  study  of  eight  is  medicine,  of  four  the  military  pro- 
fession, of  three  theological  seminaries,  of  three  com- 
merce (one  of  them  had  studied  in  Vienna),  of  two  agri- 
culture, of  two  the  naval  profession.  Twenty-two  are 
high  school  and  lyceum  graduates,  nine  grammar  school 
graduates,  ten  are  educated  by  private  tutors,  twelve 
term  themselves  self-made  men.  One  writes  he  had 
almost  no  education,  and  one  speaks  of  his  education  as 
being  "  elementary  according  to  the  standards  of  the 
present  century".  In  addition  to  Turkish,  forty-seven 
know  French,  seven  French  and  English,  one  English, 
eight  French  and  German,  six  French  and  some  other 
native  or  foreign  language,  ten  some  Oriental  languages. 
Forty-one  know  only  Turkish,  most  of  them  understand- 
ing a  little  French. 

As  to  their  professions,  forty-four  are  state  officials, 
thirteen  students,  six  business  men,  six  teachers,  four 
army  officers,  four  journalists,  three  lawyers,  two  theo- 
logians, two  naval  officers,  two  agriculturalists,  two 
physicians,  one  an  actor,  one  a  mechanic,  one  a  tele- 
grapher, one  a  politician,  one  a  historian,  and  one  a 
manufacturer  of  carving  instruments.  Ten  do  not  indi- 
cate any  profession.  Some  of  the  sixteen  women  give 
their  profession  as  "  mothers,  the  most  sacred  occupa- 
tion of  all  Turkish  women,"  as  housewives  and  as  fem- 
inists. Three  simply  answer  "  they  are  unfortunately 
only  women,"  and  a  seventeen-year-old  girl  describes 
herself  as  an  amateur  musician. 

Forty-six  do  not  belong  to  any  party  or  society. 
Twenty-two  are  strong  supporters  of  the  Committee  of 
Union  and  Progress,  six  are  inclined  to  support  the 
Committee,  eighteen  have  their  own  opinions  and  ideas, 


135]  ^^^  PRESENT  ERA  135 

which  consist,  in  the  first  place,  of  doing  away  with 
party  politics.  Twelve  seem  to  be  in  opposition  to  the 
present  government,  six  are  ready  to  join  a  woman's 
suffrage  party  as  soon  as  one  is  inaugurated.  Five  be- 
long only  to  non-political  societies,  one  is  a  socialist, 
one  a  pan-islamist,  one  is  a  believer  in  the  opinions  of 
the  daily  Ikdam,  one  in  those  of  the  weekly  Ijtihady  one 
confesses  himself  to  be  a  chauvinistic  nationalist,  although 
he  dislikes  the  term. 

One  hundred  and  thirteen  out  of  one  hundred  and  twen- 
ty regularly  buy  and  read  newspapers ;  three  buy  only 
when  important  events  take  place ;  three  do  not  buy,  but 
read  in  coffee  houses,  one  reads  only  periodicals,  and  no 
dailies.  Seventy-two  regularly  read  two  or  more  dailies 
and  several  periodicals,  twenty-five  a  daily  and  periodicals 
eleven  only  dailies,  nine  prefer  reviews  to  dailies,  three 
have  no  regular  habit. 

Forty-six  out  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  go  to  cof- 
fee houses  to  read  papers  and  also  borrow  their  friends' 
and  neighbors'  papers.  Thirty-nine  exchange  their  pa- 
pers with  friends  who  buy  other  papers,  thirty-five  read 
only  their  own  paper. 

There  are  twenty-seven  who  throw  away  their  papers, 
or  give  them  to  newsboys  after  reading  them.  In  the 
average  five,  in  the  maximum  fifteen  or  more  people, 
(members  of  the  family,  neighbors,  friends,  relatives  in 
the  provinces)  take  advantage  of  the  papers  of  the  rest. 

Seventeen  regularly  keep,  and  later  have  bound,  all  the 
papers  they  buy.  Sixty-two  conserve  papers  or  extracts 
from  them  quite  often,  but  irregularly.  Six  send  them 
regularly  to  relatives  in  the  provinces,  thirty-five  on  very 
rare  occasions,  or  do  not  conserve  papers  at  all. 

In  addition,  the  habit  of  collecting  books  is  fairly  gen- 
eral.    For   nine   it   "  amounts   almost   to   a  craze,"  for 


136    THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  MODERN  TURKEY       [136 

eighteen  it  is  a  passion,  sixty-eight  are  interested  in  col- 
lecting books,  eighteen  have  little  interest,  seven  no 
interest  at  all. 

Forty-three  prefer  literary  works  and  fiction,  thirty- 
two  history,  politics  and  law,  twenty-one  social  sciences, 
seventeen  scientific  and  professional,  and  five  religious 
books.     One  has  no  choice. 

In  a  month,  for  papers,  periodicals  and  books,  with 
the  exception  of  school  books,  four  spend  less  than  fifty 
cents,  twelve  between  fifty  cents  and  one  dollar,  thirty- 
three  between  one  dollar  and  two  dollars,  thirteen  be- 
tween two  dollars  and  three  dollars,  four  between  three 
dollars  and  five  dollars,  and  six  more  than  five  dollars. 
Three  have  no  direct  expenses,  because  they  go  to  coffee 
houses  and  libraries  for  reading.  Forty-five  are  not 
able  to  make  any  estimate.  An  eighteen-year-old  stu- 
dent speaks  of  ninety-five  per  cent  of  his  pocket  money,' 
and  two  men  of  six  per  cent  and  eleven  per  cent  of  their 
incomes  respectively,  as  used  for  reading-matter. 

Seventeen  of  those  answeringfully  agree  with  the  views 
and  opinions  of  their  favorite  papers.  They  nearly  all 
state  that  otherwise  they  would  not  read  them.  Thirty- 
five  agree  often,  thirty-one  sometimes,  fifteen  rarely,  six 
never.  For  fourteen  it  is  even  hateful  to  think  that  one 
might  agree  with  the  views  expressed  in  the  press.  Two 
do  not  answer  at  all. 

For  fourteen  it  is  a  passionate  habit  to  have  discus- 
sions regarding  the  views  and  contents  of  their  papers ; 
thirty-two  do  it  very  often,  thirty-four  sometimes,  fifteen 
rarely,  fifteen  ordinarily  not,  ten  hate  to  do  it. 

*This  young  man  is  now  a  student  of  a  high  school  conducted  by 
French  Catholic  missionaries.  He  spends  all  his  money  for  historical 
works  and  intends  to  become  a  "  religious,  learned,  zealous  and  honest 
Turkish  army  officer.  " 


137]  THE  PRESENT  ERA  1 37 

The  editorial  is  the  part  of  the  paper  thirty-four  of 
those  questioned  read  first.  Sixty-four  begin  with  the 
latest  news,  twelve  with  fiction  and  special  articles,  five 
with  advertisements.  Five  people  do  their  reading  '*  ac- 
cording to  the  circumstances." 

Forty- two  are  mostly  interested  in  the  political  part, 
thirteen  in  signed  editorials  of  any  kind,  twenty-nine  in 
special  articles  on  social  problems,  ten  in  matters  con- 
cerning the  progress  and  welfare  of  the  country,  eight 
in  fiction,  five  in  advertisements,  two  in  crimes  and 
sensationalism,  one  in  personal  news.  Ten  have  no 
choice,  partly  because  they  cannot  find  anything  of 
interest  in  a  daily. 

Forty-six  profit  most  by  the  scientific  articles  on 
social  problems,  twenty-one  by  the  editorials,  nineteen 
by  news,  eleven  by  business  news  and  advertisements, 
nine  by  literary  articles  and  fiction,  fourteen  have  no 
choice. 

The  advertisements  are  read  regularly  by  seventy, 
sometimes  by  thirty-seven  and  very  rarely  by  thirteen. 

The  new  departure  of  the  Turkish  press  in  using  nu- 
merous and  big  headlines  is  welcomed  by  sixty-one. 
Nineteen  think  that  the  idea  is  essentially  good,  but  often 
abused.  For  thirty  it  is  an  unwelcome  sign  of  degener- 
ation and  sensationalism.     Ten  are  indifferent  to  it. 

The  feministic  organs  published  by  and  for  the  women 
have  only  fourteen  warm  supporters.  Seven  think  they 
are  not  bad.  Seven  believe  in  feminism,  but  find  the  ex- 
isting organs  too  militant.  They  are,  on  the  contrary, 
not  militant  enough  for  six.  Eighteen  find  them  pur- 
poseless, fifteen  disapprove  of  them  strongly,  nine  find 
them  dangerous,  one  of  them  fearing  that  "  they  might 
make  a  second  Russia  out  of  Turkey".  Four  think 
that  the   place  for  women  is  the  home.     Sixteen  have 


138         THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  MODERN  TURKEY       [138 

no  idea  about  them  and  twenty-four  have  never  read 
them. 

Only  nineteen  out  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  are  un- 
conditionally content  with  the  contents  of  their  papers. 
With  exception  of  nine  who  do  not  express  any  opinion, 
all  the  rest  think  that  there  are  sections  in  the  paper 
which  are  needless  and  should  be  eliminated.  Twenty- 
eight  object  to  long  and  tiresome  articles,  written  by 
incompetent  men  or  translated  from  foreign  papers,  which 
do  not  reflect  any  general  interest.  Nineteen  are  opposed 
to  polemics,  violent  attacks  on  public  men,  and  hot  po- 
litical discussions.  Thirteen  are  opposed  to  the  publica- 
ion  of  fiction  in  serious  dailies.  Thirteen  do  not  see  any 
need  for  court,  police  and  personal  news.  Eleven  take 
exception  to  advertisements,  at  least  to  those  of  no  pub- 
lic benefit.  Six  think  the  dailies  themselves  are  super- 
fluous. One  is  opposed  to  sporting  news,  and  one  is 
against  the  use  of  foreign  expressions  in  the  Turkish 
press. 

The  opinions  are  more  divided  regarding  the  elements 
which  the  papers  lack.  Twenty-eight  see  the  lack  in 
scientific  articles  and  cultural  news ;  seventeen  in  arti- 
cles which  might  serve  to  enlighten  and  guide  the  peo- 
ple; sixteen  in  business  and  commercial  news;  nine  in 
news  from  distant  continents,  especially  America;  six 
in  news  from  Mohammedan  countries ;  six  in  articles 
regarding  the  rights  of  women ;  five  in  fiction ;  two  in 
sporting  news ;  one  in  theatre  news ;  six  in  general 
policy  and  make-up  of  papers ;  eight  have  no  special 
idea,  and  ten  think  the  Turkish  papers  are  lacking  in 
every  essential  thing. 

The  figures  given  so  far  cannot  fail  to  indicate  how 
deep  an  interest  the  Turkish  readers  take  in  their  papers* 
how  much  they  expect  from  them,  and  what    a  single 


139]  -^^^  PRESENT  ERA  I39 

newspaper  copy,  passed  from  hand  to  hand,  often  read 
aloud  and  discussed,  in  many  cases  conserved  for  future 
reference  and  reading,  is  able  to  achieve. 

The  present-day  achievements  of  the  Turkish  press, 
the  increasing  specialization  in  review  literature,  the  at- 
tainment of  a  nearly  perfect  equilibrium,  and  of  possibil- 
ities for  constructive  work,  only  after  four  or  five  years 
of  contest,  struggle  and  agitation,  must  be  highly  sur- 
prising to  everyone  who  knows  the  previous  conditions 
and  realizes  that  there  was  not  even  one  self-supporting 
Turkish  paper  as  late  as  i860,  and  that  the  development 
of  the  press  between  1876  and  1908  was  coercively 
checked. 

For  those  who  take  delight  in  saying  that  things  in 
Turkey  never  change,  who  are  only  able  to  see  the  sur- 
face and  to  think  in  terms  of  conventional  prejudices,  it 
will  not  be  easy  to  account  for,  and  to  understand,  the 
great  and  continued  changes  in  Turkey,  as  indexed  and 
measured  in  these  pages  by  the  development  of  the  press. 

In  fact  there  has  been  taking  place  in  Turkey  not  too 
few,  but,  on  the  contrary,  too  many  changes.  At  the 
beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century  the  old  established 
system  was  shaken  off  and  began  to  adjust  itself,  under 
various  circumstances  and  auspices,  and  with  varying 
speed,  to  new  conditions.  The  price  paid  was  disinteg- 
ration, territorial  loss,  arbitrary  government,  and  the 
appearance  of  non-social  types  on  both  extremes,  both 
among  the  best,  and  among  the  least  educated  classes. 

Now,  the  imperial  burden  has  been  so  far  lightened,  and 
the  destruction  of  the  old  order  so  generally  accomplished, 
that  a  new  era  can  be  ushered  in.  This  will  be  primarily 
one  of  capitalistic  development,  in  which  surplus  will  be 
produced  and  organized.  In  the  coming  era  all  the  dis- 
advantages of  an  active  capitalistic  regime  will  be  appar- 


I40    THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  MODERN  TURKEY       [140 

ent.     The  press  in  particular  will  have  to  forfeit  some  of 
its  idealism,  and  some  of  its  virtues. 

The  advantage  to  be  achieved  in  return  will  be  stability- 
And  stability  is  what  Turkey  needs  for  obtaining  surplus 
and  prestige — two  elements  which  will  protect  her  against 
foreign  invasion  and  the  possibilities  of  disruption  far 
better  than  armies  and  navies  be  they  never  so  huge. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

The  main  source  of  information  used  in  the  present  study  of  the 
Turkish  press  has  been  several  hundreds  of  newspaper  copies  of  the 
period  between  1869  and  the  present  day. 

When  no  sources  are  indicated,  many  of  the  statements  of  a  specific 
character  are  based  upon  the  general  conclusions  drawn  from  these 
copies,  or  they  are  matters  of  common  knowledge  to  be  found  in  any 
history  of  Turkey. 

The  works  used  for  the  different  periods  are  the  following: 

The  Pre- Journalistic  Period 

Abdurrahman  Shereff.     Tarikh-i-Devlet-i-Osmanie.    2  vols.     Constan- 
tinople, 1894.     Second  ed.,  1900. 

Catimir,  Demetrius.     Histoire  de  I' Empire  Ottoman.    4  vols.     French 
ed.,  Paris,  1743. 

Hammer-Purgstall.    Geschichte  des  osmanischen  Reiches.    4  vols.  Sec. 
ed.,  Pest,  1834-36. 

Jevdett  Pasha.     Tarikh-i-Jevdett.     12  vols.    Constantinople,  1855-84. 

Loutfi.     Tarikhi-i-Loutii.     Constantinople,  1873-87. 
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Goodell,  Rev.  William.     Forty   Years  in   the   Turkish  Empire.     New 

York,  1876. 
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Moltke,  H.  K.  B.     Briefe  uber  Zust'dnde  und  Begebenheiten  in  der 

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1889. 
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The  Hamidian  Period 
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1886-87.    Waking,  1893. 
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Loutfi,  J.    Uetat  politique  de  la  Turque  et  le  parti  liberal.    Paris,  1901. 
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Official  Year  Books  of  the  Ottoman  Empire. 
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The  Present  Era 
Abbott,  G.  F.    Turkey  in  Transition.    London,  1909. 
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vol.  10,  number  3.) 


VITA 


The  writer  was  born  in  Salonica,  Turkey,  in  1889. 
Until  190 1  he  went  to  a  Turkish  elementary  school  and 
to  the  military  preparatory  school.  From  1901  to  1903 
he  studied  at  the  German  School  in  Salonica,  and  from 
1903  to  1907  attended  that  in  Constantinople.  Immedi- 
ately after  graduation  he  joined  the  staff  of  the  Sabah. 
At  the  same  time  he  was  appointed  to  the  translation 
bureau  of  the  Foreign  Office.     After  the  revolution  of 

1908  he  joined  the  newly  established  Yeni-Gazettay  and 
began   to  study  law  at  Constantinople  University.     In 

1909  he  resigned  from  his  place  in  the  Foreign  Office  to 
become  the  editorial  writer  of  the  Yeni-Gazetta,  In  the 
spring  of  1910  he  went  to  Italy  as  a  staff  correspondent. 
In  191 1  he  was  sent  to  America  by  the  Turkish  Govern- 
ment to  study  sociology  at  Columbia  University.  In  the 
faculty  of  Political  Science  of  that  institution  he  pursued 
courses  under  Professors  Giddings,  Tenney,  Robinson, 
Shotwell,  Seligman,  Clark,  Seager,  Chaddock,  Mussey, 
Gottheil  and  Hazen,  from  February,  191 1,  until  the 
spring  of  1914,  and  attended  the  seminars  of  Professors 
Giddings,  Tenney  and  Shotwell.  He  also  attended 
courses  in  the  School  of  Journalism  under  the  director, 
Professor  Talcott  Williams. 

143 


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